Slam Book

by Ann M. Martin

Hoping for popularity, Anna and her friends start a slam book at the beginning of freshman year, but instead the book begins a tragic chain of events.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, High School, Contemporary

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked this book out of the library over and over as a kid. The slam book concept was so fascinating to me and I loved how much darker/more mature it was than BSC. I just bought a used copy and reread it as an adult for the first time in years.

I remember thinking as a kid that Anna was so cool, but now I just think she’s a bad person and a bad friend. If this book was written today then I think Randy would be the main character instead of Anna. I found Randy so much more interesting this time around than Anna and wished she’d had more scenes. I definitely saw more flaws in the writing and storyline this time around, but this book is so nostalgic for me that I’m sure I’ll reread it again in the future.

[k leslie margaret]

Slam books are of course the 80s/90s version of the burn book made famous in Tina Fey's "Mean Girls". A book put together my adolescent teenage girls with a lot of hormones and aggression and a need to bitch about their peers. I read this book in grade eight and still remember it 13 years later because I skipped the after school special message of the book ("don't be a mean girl!") and jumped straight into the idea of "let's make a slam book". It didn't end well.

I can't really speak to how well the book was written, but like most books by Ann M Marting, it dealt with some issues of race, some issues of growing up, and as I recall, it was neatly wrapped up in the end.

[Kate Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bet you $10 that Taylor Swift owns this book.

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 3 out of 5]

what the actual fuck

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember when slam books were a thing? Analog social media bullying. This book is horrible - think 13 Reasons Why - but in that very specific Ann M. Martin way*, so...how do you even rate that?? But uh it does include specific information on how to commit suicide, which I feel like even in the 80s an editor should've made a note on. Also after their first date a dude kisses a chick on the forehead; like...wtf? Is this how AMM thinks heterosexuals behave? (I mean, I wouldn't know either, but I feel like it's not. It's not, right?)

* Black girl called an "Oreo" as an insult and called a cleaning lady; that is the full extent of the racism faced in this book; I think these are literally the only two racist acts AMM knows about. Character has such a weird fucking name (who the fuck names a child "Gooz"?! And AMM seems to really like the name Randy/Randi for a girl) that you know they're named after a specific person she knew. Being fat and ugly are character flaws. "Teen" narrator talks like a 50-year-old lady, and is a complete asshole we're supposed to feel bad for for some reason. The only thing missing is an I Love Lucy and/or Wizard of Oz reference. I sound harsh, but I'm really not. AMM's writing isn't and never has been good, but I ate it up as a child. I only own a copy of this book to complete a collection of her work (well, it's still not complete, but getting there). I thought I had read this one as a kid, but it's not familiar at all, so I guess I'm thinking of something else. But I would've been all about tHe dRaMa as a kid.

[Danielle Routh · Rating 3 out of 5]

(CW: self-harm, suicide)

Well, this was a ride, and a far cry from The Babysitters' Club. I'm also wondering if Heathers was influenced by it since the movie premiered two years after the book was published and there are some similar plot lines, particularly Cheryl's arc.

This book is a weird combination of both not pulling punches but also refusing to let the fallout occur with any kind of consequences for the instigators. Cheryl commits suicide, Paige tries to commit suicide, Jessica's brother is a drug addict... but aside from poor Cheryl, pretty much everyone gets a happy ending with no real punishment. I guess Martin wanted to show the ugly side of bullying but also didn't want a bummer ending.

For 1987, I think this would be a pretty ground-breaking cautionary tale. I don't think slam books (physical ones, at least) are still a thing in 2021, but I don't know if they died out or just moved online. Sadly, many of the basic elements of bullying remain the same across the decades.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up expecting it to be a humorous take on the old slam book craze, but I found it to be very serious, even a bit of a tearjerker in a couple of places. It was written by the author of The Babysitters Club, but this is not a book for children. I was very young when this was written so I don't remember if bullying was as hot a topic as it is today, and if this were to be rewritten today, I think it would need more serious consequences for the bullying.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. I was drawn to the characters and couldn't put the book down until I knew how it ended. It's very short, around 150 pages so the character development simple yet well done, the story line moves along quickly.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I read this as a kid..reread..surprised how much I did not like it. I was a fan of other books that dealt wit h this subject matter but this one I could not get involved in.

SPOILERS:

I have read so many books o n bullying but this one seemed awfully tame in a sense but also horrific with the suicide. I applaud the book's message and it was way ahead of its time in a sense. The issue for me was that, having read so many of these types of books, I could not really engage at all. The book is clearly dated and I never felt like anything I was reading was real. It wasn't my favorite.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book when I read it as a tween and re-read many times because of the serious topic. I was a huge Ann Martin fan. Not sure if I would enjoy as much as an adult but loved it as an omen of our future Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook social/cyber bullying.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

God I loved this back when I was a kid....

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, there were some issues with the book, some race comments, etc. - but the overall theme was great - how bullying truly is and how sad

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna tries to gain popularity by trashing her high school classmates, but soon she’ll discover some comments can never be taken back.

Switch the physical composition notebook with social media, and this sad and shocking cautionary tale about rumors gone awry is as relevant today as it was in 1987!

[Jesska · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5

Boof. This book.

At least it’s short and fast-paced!

#justiceforcheryl #annaisamurderer #lockherup

[Agneta Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well-paced and beautiful; it was really captivating and it handled social issues very well

[Samrat]

This book horrified me as a pre-teen. I think slam books are up there with rainbow parties as things-that-never-happened-except-that-once-but-were-thought-to-be-a-sweeping-new-trend-terrifying-the-populace... but yeah, I still remember the premise vividly. It's a pretty far departure from the BSC series.

[Sarah Karipidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a child. I know I really liked it back then. I need to read it again though..

[wanderer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horrified me as a kid. Very different from the author's Babysitters' Club series.

[Liz Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you review an absolutely insane book by the author of the Babysitters Club? Disturbing.

[Zev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read The Little Sisters series before I read the Babysitters Club. Little Sisters is a spinoff of Babysitters Club and is about Kirsty's seven-year-old stepsister, Karen. So, that was my background on Ann Martin's writing. I had no idea she wrote this dark YA novel or was...even inspired to. It took me awhile to reconcile that. I wanted to reconcile my emotions before looking for this book. Many talked about how dark this book was, and how her writing changed so much between this and Babysitters Club. It...uh...sort of. The style is similar but that's it. The content, setting and POVs are definitely not what she got into later on.

TW: completed suicide; attempted suicide; bullying; grief.

A girl dies because the bullying is so bad, is how I will gently describe it. Someone else tries to die as a result, and I was -not- impressed. The attempt did not seem out of guilt, but...like she was trying to escape consequences of her mean-spirited prank. Cold hearted of me, but these are fictional characters. Anyway the attempt is not completed. Martin's writing is so lackluster and vague that I couldn't really feel any alarm. I felt mild curiosity and reread a few pages until I felt I fully understood. She skims over her own plot lines and is scant with details in her own book, for her own writing. I didn't expect anything grand but c'mon, I know she writes normally with more detail.

And you're telling me that Slam Books wouldn't be all over the whole school, with multiple kids making multiple books for themselves? Slam books used to be huge. There would be more than one! They would be hidden or traded or whatever. It's easy to make and circulate them. Not only for kids in your school, but also kids in your neighborhood could have separate notebooks for you. It wouldn't be just one book in one school, I think. "Mean Girls" kiiiiind of touched on this with their Burn Book, but that was somewhat different and had -wildly- different consequences. Judy Blume's character Sheila makes slam books for each of her friends at a sleepover. One girl cries but stays the night, and that's it. Nothing sinister or tragic like in this book. I didn't...really care about what anyone was going through. The funeral and everyone's grief felt...off. This was Martin's writing. I -wanted- to feel sad and shocked, but did not really.

I'm glad I read this so I could learn what else Martin was capable of.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was nothing like the Baby-Sitters Club. Honestly, the only real similarity I saw was that it involved a group of teenage girls, one of whom was token black girl with a unisex name who faced racial discrimination. This book discussed a lot of tough topics in its 160 pages, including bullying, suicide, alcoholism, racism, classism, and parental neglect. However, none of the topics were covered in detail. I would have liked to have seen less breadth but more depth. Lastly, the character's suicide was described in graphic detail. I would have preferred not to have that knowledge. Overall, I am giving this book 2 stars.

[Camille Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILERS (but like who is gonna read this)

This was an... interesting book. It was surprisingly progressive as far as face and topics of suicide, and it kinda reminded me of Heathers, which is funny since it actually came out before the movie. The main character, Anna, was not very likable though, and I wish we got to see more of Randy and Jessie. This was like 150 pages and still took me a month to get through- I will say I was busy with school but still, I think that points to this book not being very captivating. Overall a somewhat enjoyable little read found in the depths of my mom's old books from the 80s.

3.5 stars

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Slam Book” is like the 80’s version of Mean Girls, and the plot is realistic. That’s what made the book seem interesting at first, and reading it was a little like reading Sweet Valley High novels. The thing is Ann M. Martin is usually more descriptive with characters and a little less graphic. But she wasn’t, I couldn’t even tell which girl was who. Another upsetting thing was how Anne seemed to care more about reputation than about feelings. Though, Ann M. Martin still has more interesting books to choose from because she’s really a great author.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read this as a kid even though I always wanted to, so when I saw it in my library’s ebook catalogue I just couldn’t resist.

This might be written by Ann M. Martin, but it’s definitely not a Baby-sitters Club story! This short but impactful book proves that bullying was alive and well even in 1989, and it was definitely a shocking story. It’s obviously very dated, though, and Anna suffers no punishments for her awful deeds which really stinks. Still, for the times it was written for I think it did a good job.

I’m really glad I finally read this!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in fifth grade because it was by Ann M. Martin, and I thought it would be just like the Babysitter’s Club. I was VERY WRONG. This book is very good, but don’t read it if you are sensitive to death, suicide, or alcohol abuse. And especially don’t let a 10 year old read it unsupervised.

This book really does capture the feeling of ninth grade and everything you tend to encounter. It was very similar to my ninth grade experience (except for a slam book being in the middle of it.) If you’re looking for a nice read, and you’re above the age of 13, I highly recommend it.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a unique skill to take a book where pretty much all the characters are horrid and unlikable and still make it well very good.
Martin is quite skilful and her non Baby Sitter universe books are to me anyway a step above and in a different class. This was a good story, even if you did want to punch most of the characters in the face.
Ann M Martin #24

[Rebecca Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kindle recommended this book to me. I remembered reading it in middle school and liking it. It was on sale for 50 cents. So, I bought it because I was curious if I would still think it was good. The answer is, no. It did not age well. The best part was that it was short and it allowed me to reach my goal of reading 30 books by the end of June.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I liked when I was a preteen. I didn't remember anything about it thought expect about Cheryl. It was very controversial at the time but also relevant. Anna's parents reaction to her confession was totally ridiculous though.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

dang, can you imagine a YA author writing a book like this in 2025? Yes, the mental health rep was a bit clunky an definitely of its time, but I really do miss the times when authors were able to write about topics like suicide, bullying, and alcoholism in such an unflinching way.

[Joshua Arnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

BAD GIRLS

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in elementary school and it has always stayed with me. I was definitely too young to fully understand all the themes but it still made a huge impact.