SLAM!!

Slam, by Nick Hornby, October 16, 2007, Archie Ferguson

Summary

Slam by Nick Hornby is not your typical novel. Nick Hornby writes about Sam, the protagonist, who had an interesting story to tell. He admired the famous skateboarder who goes by the name of Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk is never physically there with Sam, but he looks to Tony for advice about his life struggles based on a book Tony wrote. Sam and his mother did not have the tightest relationship, but he had many other things to worry about. Sam was an ordinary teenager. He was trying to do well in school, and wanted his life to go swell with his girlfriend Alicia; little did he know his life would change forever.

The shocking occurrence of Alicia’s pregnancy was what made Sam’s life so difficult and sparked the largest surprise in the novel. This was a huge shift, and Nick Hornby always found ways to make the story humorous and he succeeded incredibly. Not only was it hilarious, but he had a neat way of showing reality through the eyes of Sam. Sam took trips to the future and saw how his life had turned out. This was something I never experienced as a reader with other novels.

“I found my phone in my jacket pocket. ‘Hello?’ ‘It’s Bee’ ‘Oh. Hello Bee.’ I wasn’t sure who Bee was, but it sounded a bit like Alicia. You couldn’t be sure at anything, though, when you were in the future” (Hornby 205).

This is one of the examples where Sam goes in to the future. This was at first confusing, but it eventually started to come together. I found this hilarious because Alicia was saying “It’s me,” but she was sick so it sounded different. The confusion Sam had made it even more humorous because Sam had no choice but to follow along with it. Alicia was calling him to say he had to take his son to an appointment, and this was one of my favorite parts. Sam seemed to pull himself together in the most uneasy situations. Nick Hornby created a narrator that I as a reader grew to love.

Not A Piece of Cake

A Piece of Cake, by Cupcake Brown, April 2007, Crown Publishing Group

Summary

   This novel was particulary very sad, depressing, unbelievable, and shocking. Every single page had a new issue or a new problem. Cupcake Brown would be seen as a strong person to have experienced many obstacles in her life. Cupcake has had sibling rivalry with her brother Larry which was introduced at the start of the novel. Her mother's death was also explained and in very great detail. She's had a shaky relationship with her father, and with many people around her.
   
   Cupcake Brown also suffered part of her life with a foster parent named Diane who abused her severely. The most memorable time was when Cupcake was pregnant. Her foster parent had her jumped and attacked. This was not the end of her troublesome life as it may have seemed in the story of her life. There were continued issues such as being shot at and hanging witht the wrong groups of people.

",,,,a doctor walked up and told us momma was dead. Boy, I thought to myself. I could've told yall that- how long'd go to school for that one?" (Brown 8).

In this quote, Cupcake was at the hospital after she called her father and said her mother was lying on the ground and not breathing. I chose this quote as one of my favorite. It made it easier for me to read. I was saddened that as soon as the novel started there were so many depressing moments for Cupcake Brown. Her dark humor eased out the sad parts.

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