S.C.A.M.

SparkNotes Smart Novels

by SparkNotes, Emma Harrison

Smart Novels are compelling, full-length novels with edgy and mature themes that will appeal to teens. Each book showcases more than 1,000 vocabulary words frequently included on the SAT. Brief definitions appear on the same page so that readers can quickly access and digest the meanings as they read along.

184 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

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Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, look look look look. I know that this is just an SAT vocabulary novel, and its main purpose is to teach words, but I don't think that completely excuses it from being a poorly constructed novel. For example, The Ring of McAllister: A Score-Raising Mystery Featuring 1,046 Must-Know SAT Vocabulary Words is an SAT vocabulary novel while also being pretty great.

Probably the main problem with the book is that our protagonist, Mike, is incredibly dumb and annoying. He makes stupid decision after stupid decision. Maybe it was my puritanical upbringing, but it really did find it hard to sympathize with a high schooler whose answer to everything was...gambling. To make his character more frustrating, he's painted as a smart, responsible guy. Yeah right.

Then there was his girlfriend. She actually turned out to be one of the better characters, after a rough start. Did I mention someone thought it would be a good idea to name her Winter? She was initially portrayed at this stereotypical YA love interest edgy, DiFfErEnT girl (basically giving her an excuse to be rude and cringy), but then she became the voice of reason and was probably the best character?? I'm not sure where that came from, but I'm grateful.

Plot-wise, I guess this book really was geared towards boys because it was about poker and football for the most part, but honestly I don't think that excused the huge stretched of description in the poker and football scenes. Here me out. I understand why they showed the poker games in excruciating details a little bit more because they did become a major part of the plot, but they all started to sound the same after a while. I probably learned more gambling words than anything else. The football games for the most part had nothing to do with the plot and were just vehicles to show how our protagonist felt. Instead of giving usa play by play, the author could have focused more on the emotions Mike felt, cutting down on some of the monotonous details.

Also the ending...

Okay so essentially the whole book, we were working up the the point where Mike would be forthcoming with his parents about his mistakes and it did create a good sort of palpable tension in the narrative. So you can imagine how happy I was, when at the resolution of the story, instead of showing the discussion, they cut to after all the weighty conversations were over...not! That was a scene that the book should have had in place of those dry football scenes and i was so disappointed that it wasn't there! I almost yelled at the book.

Also the way the resolution was handled seemed to undermine the lesson of the book.

All in all this book wasn't the worst. It felt kinda average, except a little worse.

[Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

S.C.A.M. is a great book that has a very even story line, about a boy who becomes addicted to gambling, and risks all his money in a high stakes game of texas hold 'em. I enjoyed this book because it was somewhat near my age group and it was fun to follow along the few action packed football scenes that made me feel as though i was there. I would recomend this book to anyone who wants a stright plotted story, or someone who is interested in learning plenty of vocab!

[Undrakh · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book made me get through 3 things . 1st it helped me to memorize some vexing words. I learnt how harmful gambling is especially for the ones starting their life . 3rd getting scholarship is not easy as we are thinking , so i guess i need work until i faint or sth . I do not read books about football stars and cheerleaders in high school or typical life of teens , but this one seemed pretty much okay . :D

[Emalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I loved how teenagers in high school can some what relate to this book. I also think it is very clever that I'm also learning SAT vocabulary while I'm reading the book. I enjoy the creative ways he tries to get his life back together after everything that has happened. I recommend this book to young adults because if the problems are more associated with teenagers and is in the same setting as well.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was overall easy to understand. It helped me learn new SAT words while reading.
My English teacher actually assigned for us to read a novel similar to this, and so I chose this out of the 10 options. I would recommend it to those who want to learn SAT words in context. Learning vocabulary in context is much easier.

[Smohajer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was just for improving my language and it was really helpful.

[Abigail]

I hated this book, the end was depressing