Slam

Aahh, the bliss of a new Nick Hornby novel and how I wanted to savour it, but devoured it in one gulp. Writing specifically for young adults for the first time won’t stop the adult market from snapping up Slam, either. Sam is a skateboarding, Tony Hawk devotee and looks to his autobiography for his advice and wisdom to guide him through life’s tricky moments and in the space of five seconds Sam’s life will change forever and get very tricky indeed. Slam is about all of the things teens encounter in life; school, friends, opposite sex and sex and to quote Sam: ‘All I can say is that, believe it or not, sex is like anything good: once you have it you stop being quite so botheredabout it.’

Hornby couldn’t write a boring book if he tried and even when tackling serious matters he is hilarious and honest. Sam’s an appealing 16-year-old who stuffs up, faces the music, mostly, and made me laugh and laugh. Not to be missed by adults and teens.

Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn