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Hold Me Down
Xavier Hunter's dreams of graduation and college are even more crazy-impossible this sophomore year. Flipping on his former BFF has put more than one target on his back. And thanks to vicious baby-daddy lies, his dream girl Samantha Fox has quit him for good. The only person who seems to understand what he's going through is Nancy Simpson. She's a gorgeous chance to make things right--but she's more dangerous drama than Xavier has ever seen.
Samantha isn't going to let heartbreak break her. Maybe Xavier wasn't the down-deep-decent guy she thought. And maybe what they had wasn't as true as she hoped. But there's something about his new boo, Nancy, that's screaming bad news. And exposing what's real means she and Xavier must face some hard truths--and survive.
Samantha isn't going to let heartbreak break her. Maybe Xavier wasn't the down-deep-decent guy she thought. And maybe what they had wasn't as true as she hoped. But there's something about his new boo, Nancy, that's screaming bad news. And exposing what's real means she and Xavier must face some hard truths--and survive.
336 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2015
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February 25, 2015Review copy: ARC provided by publisher
Hold Me Down is a new release this week. It’s the second book in the Coleman High Series. In the first book, Lovers & Haters, Xavier Hunter got mixed up with a rough crowd and his romance had a bumpy road. I didn’t read the first book, but the summary was embedded within the first few pages of this book. This required some information dumps that might not have been fabulous for readers familiar with Lovers & Haters, but would be helpful to readers unfamiliar with the first book.
Xavier Hunter has been through a lot in a brief amount of time. His father was incarcerated when he was six and recently his mother also began serving a prison sentence. Xavier has a younger brother to care for and is also trying to keep up his grades so he can go to college. This is already a lot to deal with, but then his father comes home and has become somewhat consumed with his Christian faith. His father is extremely concerned about the salvation of his children. This leads to a lot of clashes between him and Xavier.
Added to this is an accusation of being a baby-daddy and a new girlfriend oozing drama. To top it all off, Xavier had snitched on the people he’d been running with the year before once they started bringing drugs into the school. Because of that, he has a price on his head.
Xavier still loves his ex-girlfriend, has family issues, people are trying to kill him and he still wants to stay focused on graduating and getting to college. The stress adds up and it starts to seem like just staying alive might be his biggest task.
This is what some might refer to as street or urban lit because it happens in Detroit and has African American characters. There is violence, but it isn’t graphic. Though there is sex, it isn’t described. The word ‘damn’ shows up a few times, but otherwise, there isn’t any other cursing. I saw a review of Lovers & Haters that described Slater’s writing as gritty, but I’m not sure that I would describe this book that way. Xavier deals with some very difficult and dangerous situations, but Slater keeps things relatively tame and hopeful.
Recommendtion: Borrow it someday. Hold Me Down would be a good fit for those who enjoy contemporary books with a little romance, high school drama, action, and a splash of danger. The storyline is interesting as are the characters even if they aren’t always likeable.
Hold Me Down is a new release this week. It’s the second book in the Coleman High Series. In the first book, Lovers & Haters, Xavier Hunter got mixed up with a rough crowd and his romance had a bumpy road. I didn’t read the first book, but the summary was embedded within the first few pages of this book. This required some information dumps that might not have been fabulous for readers familiar with Lovers & Haters, but would be helpful to readers unfamiliar with the first book.
Xavier Hunter has been through a lot in a brief amount of time. His father was incarcerated when he was six and recently his mother also began serving a prison sentence. Xavier has a younger brother to care for and is also trying to keep up his grades so he can go to college. This is already a lot to deal with, but then his father comes home and has become somewhat consumed with his Christian faith. His father is extremely concerned about the salvation of his children. This leads to a lot of clashes between him and Xavier.
Added to this is an accusation of being a baby-daddy and a new girlfriend oozing drama. To top it all off, Xavier had snitched on the people he’d been running with the year before once they started bringing drugs into the school. Because of that, he has a price on his head.
Xavier still loves his ex-girlfriend, has family issues, people are trying to kill him and he still wants to stay focused on graduating and getting to college. The stress adds up and it starts to seem like just staying alive might be his biggest task.
This is what some might refer to as street or urban lit because it happens in Detroit and has African American characters. There is violence, but it isn’t graphic. Though there is sex, it isn’t described. The word ‘damn’ shows up a few times, but otherwise, there isn’t any other cursing. I saw a review of Lovers & Haters that described Slater’s writing as gritty, but I’m not sure that I would describe this book that way. Xavier deals with some very difficult and dangerous situations, but Slater keeps things relatively tame and hopeful.
Recommendtion: Borrow it someday. Hold Me Down would be a good fit for those who enjoy contemporary books with a little romance, high school drama, action, and a splash of danger. The storyline is interesting as are the characters even if they aren’t always likeable.
October 28, 2015
"Hold Me Down" a drama by Calvin Slater.This story is about a High school student named Xavier Hunter, He has to make a life changing decision in order to protect himself and his loved ones. Xavier has made a big mistake and has to go all out of his way to change his life for the better. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book because it takes place in a high school with real life problems that I can relate to.
The main characters encounter many problems. Xavier's problems are at school as well as personal issues. Xavier and his dad do not get along because of different religious beliefs. Samantha, Xavier's ex-girlfriend, Is being perused by the same threatening people that he is. Another female is claiming that Xavier is the father of her child. School is becoming a problem for the both of them. They just cant seem to stay focused.
Xavier's friend Heather Larkin is my favorite character because she reminds me a lot of myself. She is very caring and open with her opinions. Heather stuck out to me because she was the only one willing to stick by Xavier's side even when he was down and out. She made sure he felt and knew he had a friend. I like to think of myself when I read about heather.
I would recommend this book to be read in high school English classes. This book would help a lot of the boys in my school. Especially when it comes to girls or their friends. It could teach them to pick and choose who they call their friends. The book "Hold Me Down" is a great novel for high school students.
The main characters encounter many problems. Xavier's problems are at school as well as personal issues. Xavier and his dad do not get along because of different religious beliefs. Samantha, Xavier's ex-girlfriend, Is being perused by the same threatening people that he is. Another female is claiming that Xavier is the father of her child. School is becoming a problem for the both of them. They just cant seem to stay focused.
Xavier's friend Heather Larkin is my favorite character because she reminds me a lot of myself. She is very caring and open with her opinions. Heather stuck out to me because she was the only one willing to stick by Xavier's side even when he was down and out. She made sure he felt and knew he had a friend. I like to think of myself when I read about heather.
I would recommend this book to be read in high school English classes. This book would help a lot of the boys in my school. Especially when it comes to girls or their friends. It could teach them to pick and choose who they call their friends. The book "Hold Me Down" is a great novel for high school students.
March 15, 2016
i loved this book i can actually feel what Xavier is going through and what he felt for Samantha is real.
Now he's going to enter the 12th grade alive hoping that he'll make across that stage without being smoked. WHAT AN EXCITING STORY I WANT MORE OF THIS!!!! ME HERE WISHING THIS WAS TV SERIES. gangster with a brain is very inspiring
Now he's going to enter the 12th grade alive hoping that he'll make across that stage without being smoked. WHAT AN EXCITING STORY I WANT MORE OF THIS!!!! ME HERE WISHING THIS WAS TV SERIES. gangster with a brain is very inspiring
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews