Sam by Allegra Goodman

当一个女孩成为一个女人时，她的热情和好奇会发生什么变化？这幅令人难忘的成长画卷对阶级、毒瘾、父母身份、渴望和野心进行了有力的反思。

有一个女孩，她的名字叫山姆。她很喜欢她的父亲，尽管他不常在身边。她的母亲考特尼为生计而挣扎，并不断提醒她的女儿，她的生活应该是不同的。萨姆在学校里不合群，其他女孩都有合适的蓝色牛仔裤，也不质疑规则。珊珊不关心牛仔裤或规则。她只喜欢爬树，爬篱笆，爬墙，爬建筑物的侧面。当她攀爬时，她发现了一个属于她的地方：她可以关闭她的大脑，痛苦是有目的的，而且如果你想赢，也是可以的。

当萨姆长到十几岁时，她与自我怀疑和不安全感作斗争。她渴望她的攀岩教练能注意到她，但他的注意力跨越了她不知道如何抵制的界限。她希望她的父亲永远离开，而不是总是来来去去，但一旦他离开，她意识到她失去了多少。她愤怒地反对母亲不断施加压力，要求她为更安全的未来做计划。在面对她被期望做的事情时，她与她想成为的人搏斗，山姆开始明白，只有她才能使她的梦想成真。

阿莱格拉-古德曼美丽而睿智的小说《萨姆》看似简单：它是关于一个女孩成为女人的故事。但在其直截了当的时间顺序和简洁的句子下，隐藏着非凡的深度、敏感性和柔情的层次。这部令人难忘的少女时代的颂歌问道：一个孩子的快乐和归属感–她对自己的信念–在她的成长过程中会发生什么？答案会让你心碎，但也会让你充满希望。

What happens to a girl’s exuberance and wonder as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers a powerful reflection on class, addiction, parenthood, longing, and ambition.

There is a girl, and her name is Sam. She adores her father, though he isn’t around much. Her mother, Courtney, struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind her daughter that her life should be different. Sam doesn’t fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don’t question the rules. Sam doesn’t care about jeans or rules. She just loves to climb–trees, fences, walls, the side of a building. When she’s climbing, she discovers a place she belongs: she can turn off her brain, pain has a purpose, and it’s okay if you want to win.

As Sam grows into her teens, she grapples with self-doubt and insecurity. She yearns for her climbing coach to notice her, but his attention crosses boundaries she doesn’t know how to resist. She wishes her father would leave for good, instead of always coming and going, but once he’s gone, she realizes how much she’s lost. She rages against her mother’s constant pressure to plan for a more secure future. Wrestling with who she wants to be in the face of what she’s expected to do, Sam comes to understand that she alone can make her dreams come true.

Allegra Goodman’s beautiful and wise novel Sam is deceptively simple: it is about a girl who becomes a woman. But underneath its straightforward chronology and spare sentences lie layers of extraordinary depth, sensitivity, and tenderness. This unforgettable ode to girlhood asks, What happens to a child’s sense of joy and belonging–her belief in herself–as she grows up? The answer will break your heart, but will also leave you full of hope.