Slam is Nick Hornby’s ninth book and his first foray into teen literature.  It has been widely publicised as the first novel to address teen pregnancy from the point of view of the father (whether this is actually the case is a debatable subject). It follows skating-obsessed teen Sam on the journey towards parenthood in a memorable and clearly carefully considered way.  It is a convincing and occasionally funny book, with believable characters and an ultimately positive message.  However, believable characters do not necessarily make likable characters; I often found myself wanting to slap Sam around the face when he was being particularly dense and sincerely hope that I never meet anyone as helpless and latently snobby as Alicia.  But that doesn’t diminish the book’s power, or prevent it from being an original voice in an understandably female-dominated genre.