After finishing the novel

Last entry

After reading the last chapter, I'm glad that I read the book
'till the end. I had my ups and downs while reading it. Sometimes I just wanted to lay it aside and stop reading . If it wouldn't be a school novel I probably would've done it. But now I'm really glad that I didn't. After finishing it, I can comprehend the story more. It isn't suppose to be a lovestory with "I love you "here and "I love you too" there. But that's what keeps it interesting. It's more honest and authentic then many other books. In real life nothing happens the way you want it to. But the point is , learning to deal with difficult situations . That's exactly what Sam did. He lived an ordinary life when suddenly everything changed. But he learns to handle it as best as possible. He did mistakes by running away from his duties, but he came back and he confronted them. And now everything turned out 'OK' . His life goes on and not as bad as he thought it would. So I think that the story isn't only about telling us ' don't get pregnant' it's also about ' if you messed up, face your problem because there's no easy way to make it right '. I also liked the facility of reading the book. I could concentrate more on the story then on searching the words in a dicitionary . Everybody , espescially teenager, should read the book. It's a good way of prevention. In my opinion there's no teenager who even consideres to have a baby after reading this book.

Safer Sex

After having read more than half of the novel

Almost over

Well now that I read more than half of the novel, I can say that I like the book. I don't really now why but they way it's writting it's just honest . I just finished reading the 18 chapter.By now Sam and Alicia somehow got together again. Sam's not in love with Alicia, at least not the same way he was when he first met her, but he tries to do the right things. They talked to their parents and the school about the pregnancy . They also went to the first scan and did all the preparation like going to classes .

Which at first didn't go well because in the class Alicia's mom picked out for them were only older people. They never went there again but Sam's mom found one that was more in their age group. So everything turned out 'OK' . Sam also got whizzed in the future again , but this time 'Roof' was about a year old and he had a little sister called 'Emily'. This time everything wasn't that confusing for Sam. He was even a little bit happy to see his son . Just like the last time , the next he woke up in the present again. A few days later Rufus aka 'Roof' was born and Sam moved into Alicia's house.Everything happend the way he saw it in the future , he still didn't love Alicia but he liked her enough to live with her. He even loved Roof and he stopped worrying about the future . They lived that way a couple of weeks and argued almost every day about nothing. Sam moved out after a meeting with his dad. He lives now with his pregnant mom and her boyfriend Mark but he still visits his son . He's also scared about losing the contact to his son sooner or later. He still argues with Alicia a lot but they always reconcile.

So here we are, with only one chapter left. I'm quite pleased how everything turned out. Sam really changed his behavior. He's no longer worrying about everything and he also cares more about Alicia. He'd grown up in the past year. I don't really know why,but I can understand him more now. In the first few chapters Sam's thoughts and actions were confusing but by now most of them (!) make some sense. I mean there's no way you can be prepared for something like that. And as a teenager it's even worse. So he just had to go to Hastings , he just had to move into and out of Alicia's house. And I'm even not as much disturbed about the time travel as before. Ok , it's still a bit odd, but I was surprised that everything he 'dreamed' actually happened. So whatever it was, Sam isn't insane. Not completely.There are a few questions I'd like to ask Nick Hornby:

• Why did he choose Tony Hawk as an adviser ?
  
• Why is it skateboarding and not football or basketball?
• What is it about Tony Hawk that made you curious?

Trailer_Juno

Up to the middle of the novel

How your feelings changed?

My feelings definitely changed and I don't now what I should think about the book. At first I thought the book would be a nice story about teenage love and stuff. And it was at the beginning. But right now it's just about Sam and Alicia messing up their lives. What really bugs me is how Sam handles everything. He's trying to discplace the fact of Alicia beeing pregnant by running away. I can totaly understand that everythings a bit much, but he's just too selfish. He doesn't even try to think about how Alicia feels. He's only worrying about how his life is screwed and what he's supposed to do now. But how should he act? I don't really now what would be right to do. Ok, he should definitly stick by Alicia but it's comprehensible that he's freaking out . The perfect love story beetween him and Alicia just turned into the biggest nightmare ever. The only problem is he can't wake up.

Which questions would you like to direct at a particular character?

If I could direct a question at a particular character , it would probably be Sam's mom. She was in the same situation 16 years ago and she probably could help Sam to handle everything.

• I would ask how everything was when she was pregnant
• How she dealed with everything
• I would ask all those questions Sam should direct at her

How you as the author would have changed the book?

At the moment I can't really tell if I would have changed the book, because I don't know how it continues. Ok, it would be much nicer to read if Alicia wouldn't get pregnant . But there are books that aren't suppose to be nice. They have a message besides love and all that. I have to see how the content developes to answer this question.

So all things considered, I stop complaining about what rubbish Sam's doing and I just wait what everything's up to. Nick Hornby's book "About a boy" wasn't all fun either, but in the end everything made sence and it was kind of an happy ending.

Chapter 6

Was it a dream?

Chapter 6.... , well I don't know what I should think about Sam after reading it. But first I tell you the content so you know what confuses me . In chapter 6 Sam talks about a weird dream or in his opinion a time travel caused by Tony Hawk. ( yeah right ...kind of crazy ?!) Sam doesn't remember going to bed, but he sure remembers waking up because of a baby's crying. From one moment to another Alicia and him already have a baby and he's living at her place now. Everything's a bit much and he just wants to return to his old life. Before he met Alicia and had sex with her. He wonders why Tony doesn't send him back in time , so he can recover the damage. But nothing happens. At the end of the day, he goes to bed and the next day he wakes up in his own room. After reading chapter 6 I'm pretty sure that Sam needs professionell help. I thought the Tony-Hawk-Thing was weird but the time travel is the last straw.What was this whole journy about? And why should Tony Hawk has something to do with it ?II'm really disturbed about this chapter.I hope the story doesn't continue like that . But I've seen the interview with Nick Hornby, so I know that there'll be another time travel.

'30 seconds to mars'- was it a dream(accoustic)

Chapter 4 and 5

The "Slam"

The last few pages in chapter 3 made me really curious. Sam circumscribes that he and Alicia made a huge mistake by not using a condom. At this time he can't admit it but since that night , the relationship changes for Sam . Like their is something in the back of his mind that worries him . He no longer spends as much time with Alicia. At his 16. birthday, he receives a message from Alicia which says "I NEED 2 C U URGENT Axx" . From that on he knows what is coming.And I could also guess. He thought about it ever since that night. He meets Alicia at Starbucks and she tells him that she's pretty sure she's pregnant. Now there isn't that much chance for Sam to ignore it anymore . While reading those two chapters I thought a lot about Sam and his mom. That she was in the same situation in which Alicia is now. And I wonder how Sam will handle it. Whether he'll act the same as his dad or not.

Juno

a caricature about "Underage pregnancy"

After the opening chapters

"So things were ticking along quite nicely..."

To be honest , I feel a little awkward after reading the opening chapters. Eventhough the book is easy to read and the main character is almost the same age, he seems pretty weird. The story is told by Sam himself. I was right into his confusing thoughts about his life .He introduces himself as a boy who loves skating,but he often changes the dates and at first I didn't really know where the story was heading to. He also got an odd habit . He's talking to a poster of Tony Hawk(T.H.),who's in Sam's opinion the most famous skater in the world.Sam read his autobiography over 40 times and now Tony's talking to him . But only with the words which were used in his book, so the things Tony's saying aren't much helpful. But he's still very important because I think he's kind of a male role model. A replacement for his father who's not living with him. He has no male person he can look up to in his life, so he just starts to create his own role model, that gives him advices and helps him through tricky situations. Everything cleared up a little in the second chapter . Sam talks about his parents, about the guys he's skating with, then he starts talking about the evening he met Aliciaand how they started dating the next day , but not only dating...In the next chapter everything's about them. How they love each other and that they try to spend every second together .I think that every teenager ,including myself, can relate to the second and third chapter.It's about the first time in love, having a relationship, growing up and all the problems that comes with it.

Tony Hawk

Poem

Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mail coach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

Ever thine
ever mine
ever ours
(Ludwig Beethoven, Beethoven's Immortal Beloved Letters,

First entry

First impression

Interview with Nick Hornby about "Slam"

I'm actually quite excited about reading the book "Slam" by Nick Hornby, because the cover is very interesting designed. The short introduction on the back of the book suggests that the main character , a 16 year old boy named Sam , lives an ordinary life . His mom just dumped her boyfriend and Sam fell in love with this girl called Alicia. He's doing fine until some accident happens. This accident is probably the reason why the book is called "Slam" . The word slam stands for something that happens intense and with a lot of noise. So I expect the book to be entertaining and lifelike. With problems every teenager can relate to e.g. school, divorced partens,having a relationship,etc. Since the book is written by Nick Hornby, I suggest that it'll keep up to my expectations. I've seen the movie "about a boy",whose originally was written by Nick Hornby, and I like the way that the story was told. I also hope that reading the book improves my writing skills. This book isn't the first novel I've read in English.My favorite books in English are the " Twilight Saga" by Stephenie Meyer. In my opinion it doesn't matter whether a book is in English or German as long as I like its content and the way its written. I think studying texts in classroom has advantages but also disadvantages. I like it because I deal with the book more than I would do on my own. I get to know what my classmates think about the book and I often recognize other aspects because of their impressions. On the other hand I think that we waste to much time on talking about a book. After 5 -6 times it becomes an aweful bore.