1. SLAM
Main characters
• Sam Jones - A troubled 16-year-old skateboarder, Sam is scared and unprepared
to be a father. His idol is Tony Hawk. He has a poster of him to whom he talks
about skate tricks and his life. He has numerous dreams in which he is in the
future, raising a child with Alicia.
• Annie Jones - Sam's 32-year-old mother. She has a hostile relationship with her
ex-husband (Sam’s father). She struggles to raise Sam, and is devastated when
she discovers his girlfriend, Alicia, is pregnant. She becomes involved with
Mark, a man she once knew through work, and it is revealed later in the book
that they have a child together.
• Dave Jones - An uneducated plumber, Sam’s father has no blarg in raising his
son.
• Rufus "Roof" Jones - Sam and Alicia’s unplanned child.
• Alicia Burns - Sam’s girlfriend that gets pregnant and refuses to have an
abortion. She and Sam meet at her mother's birthday party, though they get off
to an awkward start due to Sam's obvious flirting.
• Andrea Burns - Alicia's mother who is upset about the pregnancy. She is a
counsellor alongside Annie.
• Robert Burns - Alicia's father who is upset about the pregnancy. He is a college
professor.
• Mark - The new boyfriend of Annie. It is revealed in a "flash forward" that Mark
and Annie will raise another child together.
• Rabbit - Sam’s skater friend that apparently has subhuman intelligence and
reasoning skills, with excellent skating skills.
• Rubbish - Sam’s other skater friend that is apparently smart, with horrible
skating skills.
• TH - Tony Hawk, his idol. Sam always talks to a poster of Tony that hangs in
his room and Tony responds with a quote from his book. Tony's advice
eventually stops making sense to Sam and discourages him.
• Alex - Sam’s girlfriend after he and Alicia split up.
• Carl - Alicia’s boyfriend after she and Sam split up.
• Emily - Annie's baby who is born after Rufus.
Summary
The novel's protagonist is a troubled 16-year-old skateboarder, Sam that lives in
London, UK . His mother, Annie, gave birth to him when she was just 16. They
therefore have an unconventional relationship. He has a poster of Tony Hawk in his
room that serves as his friend and confidant. Sam’s two best friends are Rabbit and
Rubbish, two skateboarders. Sam’s father, Dave, is somewhat estranged from the
family, visiting them only occasionally. After being introduced to Alicia at a party
thrown by Annie’s co-worker, Andrea, Sam and Alicia start dating. He believes he is in
love with her and visits her numerous times, almost daily, in which they have sex
several times. However, one time Sam and Alicia try having sex not wearing protection.
2. After a while, Sam gets bored of his relationship and decides to break up. A while later,
Alicia calls him to meet so they can talk. Sam, realizing what news she has, has a
prophetic dream of waking up next to Alicia in the future. She is ugly and heavy, and
their baby, Roof, is loud and obnoxious. He attends the local college occasionally
throughout the week, pursuing a career in art and design. Moreover, Annie is pregnant.
Sam awakens the next morning. He is back to his normal time and presumes that he was
sent in the future by the mystical powers of his Tony Hawk poster.
In fear of the obvious news that Alicia will give him, he runs away to Hastings and
throws his mobile phone in the sea. Thinking he can make a permanent residence there,
Sam goes to several attractions, only to be told there is no work. While in a seedy bed
and breakfast, Sam meets a rude old man, Mr Brady, that hires him as a helper with
various day to day activities (helping him up and down the stairs, and retrieving his
remote control). In the middle of the night, Mr Brady barges into his room demanding
he helps him find the remote that has fallen behind his bed. Sam grudgingly retrieves it,
only to decide that he no longer wants to stay in the town. He returns home to Annie
who has called the police. After spending some time with Annie, Sam and Alicia meet
up and she reveals that she is in fact pregnant. Refusing to get an abortion, Alicia and
Sam work up the nerve to tell Alicia’s elitist parents, Andrea and Robert. Originally
upset, Andrea and Robert try to convince Alicia to have an abortion. When Alicia
refuses, Andrea and Robert lash out and blame Sam for ruining Alicia’s life. Sam,
Alicia, Andrea and Robert march over to Sam’s apartment, only to find Annie with her
new boyfriend Mark. When told of the pregnancy, Annie breaks down and cries, furious
that Sam would ruin his life. That night, Sam has another prophetic dream in which he
takes Roof to a doctor’s appointment. Again, Sam has no idea how to take care of Roof
and no idea what is going on. Sam upsets his son Rufus, and he again, realizes he is not
a suitable father. As soon as Mark moves into their house, Annie becomes pregnant.
Sam moves into Alicia’s house only to find that he really isn’t welcome there. He
begins to take part-time college classes. He encounters one of Alicia's previous
boyfriends who insinuates that Sam's son Rufus is actually his. He confronts Alicia
when he believes that she conveniently made it look like it was his child. He moves
back in to his mother's apartment, resulting in him researching the internet for facts
about teenage pregnancies. He discovers that 4/5 of male teenage parents lose contact
with their children. He goes to Alicia's and begins to row with Alicia, resulting in her
thinking he is seeing another girl. Eventually Alicia's parents clear the matter up. Soon
after this Sam and Alicia take Rufus out for the day with Alicia and Sam having sex
later. Alicia's mum discovers them and gets particularly angry. Sam and Alicia finally
confirm to each other they were from the beginning wrong for each other. Then Sam
has a third prophetic dream, presumably a few years in the future. He wakes up with a
beautiful girl he doesn’t know. It is revealed she is his current girlfriend, Alex, as Alicia
end he broke up. The two go to meet Alicia and her new boyfriend, Carl, in a restaurant.
It is made clear that Alicia is the primary caretaker of the baby, but that she and Sam
still have a friendly relationship.
