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Summary: THE LOW DOWN ON SMACK
Review: All I can say is...WOW! This book was to the point and descriptive. It kept me wanting to read more! It is the lecture that my parents have been trying to give me only better. It made me understand how strong an addiction is. With every chapter switching between characters Burgess really gives you a clue of how the addiction affected each person. I liked how the reader got to have everyone's point of view on everything. I enjoyed getting everyone's perception of life. I think this is actually the first book I have ever liked and or wanted to read. Overall very well developed and written! It definitely gets my approval!
Rating:
Summary: For the really pure stuff....read "Smack"
Review: Set in the 1980's on the streets of Britain, journey through the roller-coaster ride of Tar and his girlfriend Gemma's run-away life: falling in love, falling out of love and eventually the pleasures and pains of being addicted to heroine. Written in an astonishingly refreshing and original form, each chapter is from a different characters point of view. This allows you insight into every angle of the world of Smack. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh My God ! ! ! ! !
Review: This is such a terrible book! I stopped in the middle of the book and I probably won't finish it because it is soooooooooo boring. I really don't like it. The story is too slow. I read the other reviews and it said it is about a girl and her boyfriend who have heroin addictions that live out on the streets but so far she has just been out on the street with her boyfriend. If I ever do get through this book and my opinion changes, I will apologize for this review and write a new one but I really don't think that's going to happen. I have reviewed about 7 books and this is the first one I am not giving 5 stars to. Don't read this book.
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Summary: Why Smack should not be included in the field of Y.A. Lit.
Review: As a high school English teacher, I am well versed in young adult authors and controversial themes. I work carefully to justify the books I bring into my classroom. YA literature has redeeming value; to me, Smack is dangerous to this genre. I wouldn't have a problem with the heroin issue if the end of the book had a resolve that shows how drug abuse takes its toll on the people involved. Basketball Diaries and the "classic" Go Ask Alice are excellent books in that respect. The characters in Smack leave you with the impression that they have been off on a holiday. They are relatively unscathed in the end. I read this book cover to cover and I couldn't put it down. I believe it is well written, but I would never have it in my classroom. I am afraid that parents will judge the field of young adult literature by this book. I believe booksellers should evaluate this book before they include it on the young adult literature shelves. This is NOT young adult literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Smack- a young adult novel
Review: Melvin Burgess' novel is a riveting splash of realization about the punk fad of squatting. Add to this fad, adolescent anarchy, and you have the background. The story is set in the U.K. around the 1980's rise of social disruption. Gemma, the 14-year-old middle class girl, and Tar, also 14 but from a dysfunctional home setting, find themselves on their own trying to survive. They turn to a group of adolescents who are experienced squatters and find refuge--until they meet Lily and Rob. They are more diversified in surviving and are eager to help Gemma and Tar to "have fun." The plummeting turn of events is what makes Smack difficult to put down. Gemma and Tar are involved in a game they don't want to play. The game is one of sex, drugs, and anarchy.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've ever read
Review: I have never taken drugs, and I never will, and this book is one of the reasons why. It lets you realize just what heroin can do to you.And it does it in such an amazing way. You always know what everyone is thinking...and it gives point of views from the last person you'd expect at a given point in time. I love this book.
Rating:
Summary: From a Brit's P.O.V.
Review: I can relate to this book well, being a teen in Britain. I may not have been in the situation Tar and Gemma were in, but there is such a sense of realism about the book, that you can almost step into their lives and become them. This book really shows the addiction from the addicts point of view, how they don't realise the mess they're in until it's too late. Melvin Burgess has written this book so well, and his writing gave an understanding to the feelings, not only of Tar and Gemma, but of the people around them. The parents, the friends and enemies all shared int the glory of this shocking, yet marvellous novel. This is a MUST read for anyone. Teen or not (unless you are faint hearted).
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Summary: A must read for any teen.
Review: I just finished this book a few day ago. And it really will shock you at how scary life can be with a addiction to hirowen. Me personal thought that this was going to be one of those corny books that say don't do drugs its bad for you, but boy was I wrong. This book says don't do drugs because it will destroy your life! The book starts fine but when Tar and Gemma move in with Lily and Rob there life takes a turn for the worst posable. This book is a must read for any teen with a thought of trying something new.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I think this is one of the greatest books ever written. I picked this book up because of the name i never put it down. It has definiely had a great impact on my life and i symphathize with anyone who is addicted to heroin.
Rating:
Summary: A Smack in the Face
Review: I absoutley loved this book. I read the whole book at the bookstore! I overcame my heroin addiction on Jan 1, 1999. I lost my best friend to a heroin Overdose at a New Years party. You never think that something like Smack can happen to you. The quote on the cover is so true, because when you give it up for a few days, then take it, it works the best. That is the really Nasty thing. I recomend this book to everyone.
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