
Sam is a 16-year-old without much purpose in his life besides skateboarding. He talks to a poster of his hero Tony Hawk, and has practically memorized Hawk’s autobiography Tony Hawk : Professional Skateboarder. Suddenly and unexpectedly Sam finds himself with a girlfriend named Alicia, and soon and in the usual way finds out she has become pregnant. Unable to imagine himself as a father, Sam runs away from home to avoid dealing with the issue, throwing his cell phone into the ocean to avoid phone calls from Alicia. Eventually, though, Sam begins to find better ways to deal with the situation in which he and many teens find themselves.
Why read fiction? A well-written book allows us to empathize with characters in difficult situations, and maybe encourages us to be a little more empathetic with people in real life. A well-written book shows us that life is messy and complicated and seldom offers perfect solutions to problems, so that we can learn to be more forgiving of ourselves and others. A well-written book lets us cheer for characters taking slow clumsy faltering steps toward maturity, and encourages us to take the same steps ourselves.
This is a well-written book! Nick Hornby (author of About A Boy) has created a memorable character in Sam who will live on in your memory long after you finish reading.
Hear Nick Hornby read a short excerpt
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
.
Download the first chapter from Nick Hornby’s website by clicking here.