Slam Analysis

Sam's story goes down in England. He's just like us, really, except he's on the other side of the pond. That and he says, "mum" instead of "mom" and calls French fries "chips." Aside from this, Sam...

One of the reasons we get to know Sam so well is because he tells us his story directly. You might have noticed how he uses I whenever he's talking—that's what we call a first person narrator. It...

There's nothing like a baby to make you grow up super fast. For Sam, his impending fatherhood makes him fast-forward through his adolescence into adulthood before he even reaches his eighteenth bir...

When you think of a sixteen year old skateboarder, we're pretty sure the words "pretentious" and "pompous" don't pop into your head. It's no different with Sam—he's totally down to earth and rela...

Before we try to explain what this style means, we think it would be better coming directly from Sam. Remember when he tries to explain that his mom got pregnant with him when she was sixteen? Inst...

When Rubbish face-plants at the skateboarding rink, Sam confesses he'd trade places with his buddy if he could. Wait, what? Sam knows it hurts to fall off your board, but he's in worse shape after...

We're happy to see Sam thriving at the end of the novel, but there's a lot about the ending that leaves us scratching our heads. We have about a million questions about what happens between the pre...

One of the reasons this book is so relatable is because Sam tells his story to us in a down to earth, casual way. Plus it's easy to get wrapped up in what happens because the stakes are so high. So...

Boy Meets girl Our story officially kicks off when Sam meets Alicia at a party. Before that, he's just an ordinary sixteen-year-old kid with a passion for skateboarding. When he first sees Alicia...

Not only is author Nick Hornby a #1 bestseller of fiction, he also penned the screenplays for Wild and An Education. Fancy. (Source.) Hornby didn't want the book to have a moral about teenage pregn...

It should come as no surprise that a book about teenage pregnancy features some sex scenes. If you are surprised, you might want to swing by sex-ed class to get all of your questions answered. Sam...

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