'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.'
Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings- skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam- his mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia.
Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?
Nick Hornby is the author of six bestselling novels (High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down, Juliet, Naked and Funny Girl), as well as a novel for young adults, Slam, and four works of acclaimed non-fiction- Fever Pitch, 31 Songs, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree and Stuff I've Been Reading. He has written the screenplays for the films Fever Pitch, Wild, Brooklyn and An Education, which was nominated for an Oscar. He lives in Highbury, north London.