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Recommended Reading: "Slam"
January 17, 2008
Having spent much of the past week sick in bed, I've had time to pick up some books I've been waiting to read (although why those books are usually
not the same ones as are in my nightstand stack is a puzzlement, and I'll have to explore that in another blog). One of those books was Nick Hornby's foray into YA lit,
Slam.
Every time I pick up a really good YA novel I wonder why I don't simply choose all of my reading material from that category (NB: you'll be seeing more on YA from me this year; watch this space!). Of course, we all have lots of reading options, blahblahblah, but let me make a simple and sincere argument for adding at least the occasional YA title to your own stack: novels for young adults are often the most direct route to remembering what it is that makes reading different from watching a dance performance or gazing at a painting. Reading offers the most direct and deepest route to another person's consciousness.
In
Slam, the consciousness we enter is Sam's, a London teen whose mom is just thirty-two and divorced, but doing pretty well for herself and determined to keep Sam on a path towards something better. Sam, whose main passion is skateboarding and whose god is Tony Hawk, is an amiable and well-intentioned kid. Unfortunately, his mom has forgotten that just because she pulled herself up by her bootstraps doesn't mean Sam is on her wavelength. When his girlfriend Alicia finds out she's pregnant, the usual (and some not-so-usual) family dysfunction and dynamics ensue. Part of Sam's reaction is to dream himself into a future with a baby already born (named "Roof," short for Rufus) and many misgivings about the path he's taken.
It's not the plot that makes
Slam work (not that there's anything wrong with it, but we have heard stories of teen pregnancy before)-- it's the direct line into Sam's consciousness that Hornby effortlessly channels. Sam's God may be Tony Hawk, his bible Hawk's biography -- but the problems he brings to his bedroom "altar" (a poster of Hawk his mother gave him) aren't gimmicky. Sam is trying to cross the great divide from childhood to adulthood, and his endless liminal state will make Hornby's book appeal to anyone who's ever been there, YA demo reader or not.
But one of the scenes that illustrates just how deft Hornby is about inserting bits of wisdom comes when Sam and Alicia discuss why she hasn't chosen an abortion, and why she wants him to come to childbirth preparation classes. (Forgive me, I left the book at home and can't quote this perfectly, but I'll fill it in later!) Sam says, you made the decision to keep this baby without consulting me, so why should I have to go to any of these classes? Her answer: the pregnancy is all about me and my body; once the baby's out, it's
ours.
Slam reads fast, but it doesn't fade away. If you've already read it, I'd love to know what you think.
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on January 17, 2008 | Comments (3)
