"There was a time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up."Sam Johnson is sixteen years old, he is in his last year of school, he likes skateboarding and girls and his art teacher told him he should study art and design when he has finished school, although he was never the kind of kid whom the teachers told that he should study anything in their opinion. His parents are divorced but for once they are not quarreling. He met Alicia and she seems to like him very much. Life is good.
But some people cannot help it and screw up the last little luck life grants them. Sam is one of them. His mother got pregnant with Sam when she was no older than Sam now. But Sam appears to have not learned out of it. Alicia gets pregnant too and Sam now has to learn how to cope with it. Helpful are some sneak peaks in the future Sam has at night where he can gain some insight in being an adult/parent.
This book is a typical but totally untypical young adult book, whereas the topics like coming of age, teenage love and pregnancy are typical but the way Sam experiences it all is untypical. The author did a great job to to put himself in Sam's situation. He felt it all from the urge to run away to the exuberance he could manage it all.
The book was witty and funny, like all Hornby's work, so once again my expectations were fulfilled. I especially like Sam's nightly glimpses into the future where he is a dad and everyone is used to it but him. Some pretty funny things happen during his contact with the baby. Often Sam's way of thinking and where it leads him is hilarious too.
I also liked that the book honestly describes what you have to expect when you are happening to be a teenager who is going to be a parent. The book makes it obvious that teenage pregnancy is something nobody should really want but when it happens to become reality there are ways and adult people who will help to deal with it.
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