How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I'd always hoped it would all be a bit more planned than that. I'd always hoped that we might have talked about it beforehand, so that when it happened we were both prepared for it, and it would be relaxed, and special. (2.234)
Whoops. Sam learns that when it comes to sex, not everything is planned. Considering how much her parents blame him afterward, it's funny that he wants to make sure his first time is special and Alicia is the one who is more than ready to give it up.
Quote #2
It's weird, knowing that me being born messed her up. It doesn't bother me, really, for two reasons. First of all, it wasn't my fault, it was hers—hers and Dad's, anyway. And second, she's not messed up anymore. (3.65)
Sam has a long history of ruined plans and dashed hopes in his family. Living with the fact that he came along unprepared—and at a bad time—haunts him, no matter what he claims. Slam asks us to think about how our own decisions impact others, even our kids.
Quote #3
You see how it worked? She was trying to protect me, but what she was trying to protect me from was a question about whether I had any future at all. (4.18)
When Andrea asks Sam about his future, Alicia comes running to his defense. At first Sam thinks it's nice, but then it dawns on him that the only reason Alicia does so is because she doesn't expect him to have much of a future at all. Sam's not sure which hurts more, no future or the fact that no one believes in him.
Quote #4
I know this sounds stupid, but normally, you know when things have happened to you, don't you? Well, I don't. Not anymore. Most of the story I'm telling you happened to me for sure, but there are a couple of little parts, weird parts, I'm not absolutely positive about. (6.1)
Going to the future is a weird experience for Sam. For starters, he's not even sure he went there, and then there's the issue of whether that's the way his life turns out. He can't help but be a little disappointed when he gets there and finds that none of his dreams for the future have come true.
Quote #5
I just kept thinking of what she'd look like when I told her. When she said that thing about her heart breaking the night before, it made me sad, because I knew that I was going to break her heart too. That meant the whole of our family would have broken her heart. (9.106)
When Sam thinks about his mom learning that Alicia's pregnant, all he can do is feel bad for her. He knows she'll be heartbroken. Mainly, this is about the fact that all of her plans for his future—to go to college, to graduate, to become successful—are different now because his first concern has to be the baby.
Quote #6
You really need to live your life, and not just zoom in and out of it. Otherwise you never know what's going on. (12.83)
Wise words, Sam. Thinking about the future is great, but planning what it will be like is even better. Few people actually get to visit the future, but Sam is one of them. After his experience, he can't help but think how unhelpful it really was. The future comes around whether we prepare for it or not, so you might as well enjoy it.
Quote #7
We hadn't given up hope. It was just a different kind of hope, for different sorts of things. We hoped that everything would somehow sort of maybe turn out not too bad. (13.47)
Despite the challenges of having a baby at sixteen, Sam and Alicia still hope for the future. They don't want to flush their lives down the toilet just because they made one decision. Nobody says it will be easy, but the fact that they hope for something more is promising to both of them.
Quote #8
But the thing was, we still had to do something about the future, because that's how you spend half your time when you're sixteen, isn't it? People—schools and colleges and teachers and parents—want to know what you're planning to do, what you want, and you can't tell them that what you want is for everything to be OK. (13.48)
In a time when everybody is asking about his future, Sam is making more concrete plans for his than he even knows. Sleeping with Alicia seals his fate in a way that none of his friends have. It's telling that everyone asks sixteen year olds about their futures, but no one really expects things to turn out the way they plan.
Quote #9
But like I said before: if you don't know how something feels, then you don't know anything. The future looked terrible when I went there before. But once I was on the inside of it, it really wasn't so bad. (16.24)
It's interesting how Sam's perspective changes as the book goes on. Sure, he might be maturing, but we like to think that he's learning from his experiences, too. He starts to think about how disappointed he was with the future when he first visited it. Now that he's living it, he discovers it's not so bad.
Quote #10
There was a lot of work to do, and arguments to have, and kids to take care of, and money to find from somewhere, and sleep to lose. I could do it, though. I could see that. I wouldn't be sitting here now if I couldn't do it, would I? I think that's what Tony Hawk was trying to tell me all along. (20.34)
Phew. Sam finally gets it at the very end: It's not about having plans or dreams and making them turn out perfectly—life is messier than that—instead he's happy just to be along for the ride, even if it's a bumpy one. Plans might be nice, but he knows he's going to be okay.