Read Bump This edition by LT Ville Literature Fiction eBooks

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Keith is an 18 year old high school student living in Harlem. He has a life plan that includes being the class valedictorian and going to Columbia University. His mother is a recovering drug addict and his family is broken in most meanings of the word, but he has remained unfazed by his surroundings. He meets two cousins, Jesse and Derrick, and his senior year is turned on its head as he finds himself in a love triangle that leads to the discovery of details from his past that his mother wanted to keep hidden forever.

Read Bump This edition by LT Ville Literature Fiction eBooks

"Really good coming of age story. I appreciated the depth of the characters, and that this wasn't just your typical run of the mill "thug meet thug, and sex ensues" storyline. The "thug" actually had depth, sensitivity and was an all around great guy.

Another extremely refreshing thing was that there were minimal typos and grammar errors, which sadly isn't typical with these sort of "urban" books.

Finally, I appreciated the fact that this was a stand-alone book. Sure there is potential for a sequel, but the author didnt seem to go into it with those intentions, which is the trend these days. Its OK to write a book with a start, middle and ENDING without a cliff hanger, so that you can make some extra bucks by dragging the story into several sequels. I'd definitely read more from this author."

Product details File Size 462 KB Print Length 225 pages Publisher Lustyville Press (April 10, 2012) Publication Date April 10, 2012 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B007TAYPEG

Tags : Bump This - edition by LT Ville. Download it once and read it on your device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Bump This.,ebook,LT Ville,Bump This,Lustyville Press,Fiction / African American / Urban,Fiction / Gay

Bump This edition by LT Ville Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews :

Bump This edition by LT Ville Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

• In the typical world of urban fiction so often the lead characters’ socio-economic realities are usually bleak, raw, violent, hopeless, and psychologically; even irreparably damaged. Much of that is true in author LT Ville’s literary universe. But Keith, the 18-year-old black high school senior and narrator, is a refreshing enigma in this exceptionally well-written, funny, romantic, heart-breaking and thought-provoking novel.
  Keith, who shares an apartment in a run-down Harlem projects with his on-again off-again crack-head mother (while his three younger siblings live with his no-nonsense Nana in Queens), is a bright, intelligent and conscientious student who everybody knows will be the class valedictorian and will surely be accepted into Columbia University. Although many in the high school campus thug community laughingly assume he’s gay because he pursues his studies like they pursue their women, Keith is little bothered by this.
  
  But make no mistake. Keith is nobody’s nerdy push over. Six feet tall, good-looking, one of the best basketball players in the hood, and with an already established reputation for taking names and kicking ass, he’s as focused on his academic future as he is on the thin thread that vicariously holds his family and friends together. And he’s no cock-eyed optimist. His hopefulness is real but chilled. We get that from the first words he shares with us
  
  “The streetlights were ghetto stars. I looked out my bedroom window and all I saw was darkness and light—streetlights. I was 18. My mother was 32. I didn’t know my father. Nana said he was probably a lowlife, locked up for murder or some shit like that. Mama said he was probably a lawyer or somebody really important and he probably owned a mansion in the Hamptons. I knew she was dreaming, but I liked her dreams better than knowing the truth.”
  
  Life changes for our bro-wonder when a 6’ 4” wanna-be thug transfer student who calls himself D, and his mixed-race, messed-up cousin Jes enter Keith’s life. Keith must seriously re-evaluate his sexuality when he clumsily responds to D’s romantic come-ons and finds himself sexually attracted to Jes
  
  “He was breathtaking. I noticed him at his seat when I first walked in the room. He had a really light complexion, with hazel eyes, plump pink lips and soft looking curly black hair…He was saying something else, but I was too busy noticing that he was beautiful. The thought of his beauty made me sick. I didn’t understand why I was looking at another guy that way. I tried to smile and laugh it off in my head, but my mind was at war with itself…I spent the entire class bashing my thoughts and trying to convince myself that it was just the normal musings that most people had, but nothing calmed my nerves. I was ready to run out the class when it ended, but the teacher asked me and Jesse to stay after for a few minutes.
  “Keith would you get Jesse up to date in this class?”
  “Sure, sir,” I told him as I glanced over at Jesse to get a peek. He was smiling. Even his teeth were beautiful.”
  
  Barely on the DL, D falls hard for Keith. Keith realizes he’s in love with D, but something inside him makes it hard to be sexually intimate with him. This is so not the case with Jes whose sexual advances Keith tries to resist mightily. After all, D, the guy he loves and the guy who loves him, is the cousin of Jes, Keith’s irresistible sexual fantasy. The battle between Keith’s heart and his hard-on is a frustrating draw. The revelation of a devastating childhood trauma Keith had long since forgotten explains a lot about Keith’s stilted physical relationship with D, while Jes’ ulterior motives for coming on to Keith reveal the aches and pains Jes has suffered throughout his young and tattered life.
  Keith’s best friend, heterosexual Lemar, is Keith’s voice of reason and soul mate who constantly urges Keith to cherish the unconditional love D has for him because one day it can turn conditional, or even disappear. Lemar’s mother is also a crack-head and his living situation is even worse than Keith’s. Suffering a childhood trauma of his own—Lemar’s father was shot dead by a drive by when his father came looking for him while he, Lemar, was out playing late past his curfew. Constantly reminded by his mother with cursings, rants and beatings that he was responsible for his father’s death, Lemar is a dedicated son out of guilt and genuine love for his mother and his young nephews he fatherly cares for nightly while still keeping his grades up at school.
  
  These young high school seniors carry a mighty emotional load crammed unfairly into their still fragile teenage lives. That they have each other and lift each other up through the good and the bad is a tribute to why Black lives matter so much. Sure, they may live in a physical ghetto, but their hearts, minds and soul are not confined behind those walls.
  
  It is not a spoiler to reveal that Keith indeed becomes valedictorian of his high school class—just read his remarkable graduation speak at the book’s close—and goes off to Columbia University, and that love conquers all. It is not the ending—though it brings beautiful tears to your eyes—that remarkably tells the story of these remarkable young black souls. It is the journey they traverse and survive that holds us in humanitarian awe.
  So far I’ve read this book twice. I will soon read it again. Mr. Ville. You, sir, have written a Young Adult masterpiece!
• Two teenage African-Americans living in Harlem fall in love. It feels authentic and - I've been told it's authentic by a few African-American friends, so it's not just my uneducated guess.
  
  I liked absolutely loved the coming of age arc of the story, how the hero dealt with his tough family and personal issues.
  
  What I liked less was the romantic arc of the story, especially the unexplained cheating and the lack of grovelling by the hero who cheated. When the book ends, I only know that the two heroes will carry on with their relationship, but they haven't tried to discuss and resolve their relationship issues. They just hide dust under the rug and carry on because they love each other. Well, you need more than love to make a relationship work. So the romantic arc of the story is a complete miss for me.
  
  Don't read this for the romance, read this for the coming of age story of a young African-American boy who comes from a messed-up family and who is the odd one among his peers not only because he's too school-smart and wants more from life than what he grew up with, but also because he's gay.
• Really good coming of age story. I appreciated the depth of the characters, and that this wasn't just your typical run of the mill "thug meet thug, and sex ensues" storyline. The "thug" actually had depth, sensitivity and was an all around great guy.
  
  Another extremely refreshing thing was that there were minimal typos and grammar errors, which sadly isn't typical with these sort of "urban" books.
  
  Finally, I appreciated the fact that this was a stand-alone book. Sure there is potential for a sequel, but the author didnt seem to go into it with those intentions, which is the trend these days. Its OK to write a book with a start, middle and ENDING without a cliff hanger, so that you can make some extra bucks by dragging the story into several sequels. I'd definitely read more from this author.
• This book's protagonist is a young, nerdy HS student living in Harlem. We follow him on his journey as he completes his last year of HS, comes to terms with his new found sexuality and navigates his way through his first relationship.
  
  While there are some areas of the book that could have been expanded on and while there are some very unrealistic parts of the story, it was an entertaining story.
  
  If you're looking for a quick, entertaining story definitely check this out.
• I was incredibly moved by this book. The final Valedictorian speech left me with tears in my eyes. There are many issues unresolved, just like the issues in our own lives. I liked the fact that the main character makes some really bad decisions, because that seems real to me. We all make bad decisions and need to move on, to make our lives better. Keith is filled with contradictions, yet he learns to live with the contradictions in his life. That growth exemplifies his own movement toward adulthood. I liked that "D," despite his tough exterior persona, is willing to risk everything to love. The friendship between Keith and Lemar is a great example of what it means to be friends, no matter what. The sex in the book is both emotional, loving, and hot. All in all the book leaves you with the feeling that you have experienced real people who are weak,but strong, failed, yet powerful.