Summary & Evaluation: Tar and Gemma are two fourteen-year-olds runaways who have left their troubles behind (Tar with his physically and verbally abusive parents; Gemma with her atypically authoritarian parents) and found a comfortable alternative by squatting in houses with some benevolent anarchists. But while Tar is just beginning to find himself, Gemma is agitated and unhappy with the situation--until she meets the mystically appealing Lily, a fellow runaway who introduces the two to heroin. Soon, Tar and Gemma have become addicts as their lives spiral out of control as their dependency upon smack increases--until a series of pregnancies snaps heroin's hold on Gemma and she takes drastic action to get them all straight.
Melvin Burgess' novel Smack is far from your typical teenage tale of "reefer madness." Released the same year that the movie adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, Smack tells a similar tale with some of the edge taken off--but not much. Smack does seem to glorify the life of a runaway somewhat at the beginning of the novel, when Tar and Gemma fall in with Richard, a college-aged anarchist who "liberates" empty houses for young squatters to live in. But Young Adults (and their parents) will be horrified as they watch Gemma, a loveable, somewhat erratic teenager make the move from being a grungy punk runaway to a junkie who supports her habit by working at the local massage parlor. Other subjects are explored as well, including family abuse, alcoholism, abortion, boy-girl relationships, and the bonds of friendship. Overall, a fantastic read for its stark portrayal of how the life of a junkie is frighteningly easy to fall in to.
Booktalk Hook: I don't really think that this novel would be much of a hard sell in that it got quite a bit of attention when it was released--but it has been over ten years since then, so perhaps it would need a little push. A reading from it would certainly suffice however, which is why I'd read pages 102-103, where Gemma first comes into contact with Lily at a party. It's a great intro into why Gemma was attracted to the life of a heroin addict and I'd want to keep away from the depictions of h0w her life goes downhill after that, which isn't that much of a surprise.
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