Slam magazine

Slam
Young Adult Basketball Magazine
v. 16 no. 9; 2009 Nov
88 pp.
Suitable 12+

Readers Annotation: This magazine emphasizes basketball and its stars.

Summary: The magazine focuses on everything that is basketball. It focuses not only on NBA stars but college players who are going to be the new faces of basketball. Some are stories on intriguing teams, some are human stories of a particular player, and some are all-out interviews. There may even be an article about a particular coach if he is causing controversy or is popular at the time. In addition, there is also the standard letter to the editor in the first few pages and an interesting "trashtalk" section, which are critiques and comments, some good, some bad, of the magazine in past issues.

Critical Evaluation: Yes, there are quite a bit of photos that take a good portion of the page. Yes, advertisements on different baseketball accessories run amok throughout as well. But the stories are thoughtful and interesting, always focusing on "what's hot now." The stories mostly have a human element to the story, almost in the same vein as a Hunter S. Thompson story, but without the fogginess. Many start off descriptive, a goal of luring the reader into being involved, such as an observation of the current day of shooting and interviewing. This transforms into a story with a beginning, middle, and end, which is usually a memorable quote such as, "I'm back, baby," which summed up Carmelo Anthony cover story. Interviews are also direct focusing on background, the problem, and the future, or solution. The language is direct and the memorable quotes, many short and sweet, fill in the blanks. This particular issue focuses on underdog players or players that have had a controversial past, which works well because teens like controversy, under dogs, and success and the players in this issue bring it. This magazine is aimed toward young adult males.

Booktalking Ideas:
1) Basketball/basketball players/coaches
2) Controversy
3) Problems
4) Future and solutions of basketball

Challenge Issues: There are no challenge issues present in this magazine.

Why Included: I picked out a fashion magazine for women so to even it out, I found a magazine aimed towards young adult males.