{"id":1653,"date":"2010-08-01T17:21:48","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T22:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/blog\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2020-05-09T00:03:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T04:03:24","slug":"the-other-side-of-paradise-by-staceyann-chin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=1653","title":{"rendered":"The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 <\/strong>Scribner, Feb. 2010
\nGenre(s):\u00a0<\/strong> Coming of Age, Lesbian Real Life
\nPages:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>261
\nWebsite:\u00a0 <\/strong>http:\/\/www.staceyannchin.com <\/a><\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\" <\/p><\/strong><\/p>\n

Staceyann Chin \u2013 writer, prolific poet, political activist and purveyor of knowing your pussy \u2013 never had life easy. Growing up in Jamaica without a father and being abandoned by her mother almost promised her future would end up a tragic story. Yet, out the rubble of her childhood grew the unwavering spirit that turned her into the courageous woman you see on stage belting out her poems with such fervor.<\/p>\n

In THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE<\/em><\/strong>, the reader gets to see the upbringing that birthed an artist. After being brought into the world Christmas Day, she is left behind with her brother, Delano, in the care of her grandmother. There, in the town of Lottery, Staceyann\u2019s inquisitive and highly imaginative mind got her into adventures in school and at home, and allowed her to fill in the gaps of her mother\u2019s whereabouts and her father\u2019s identity. There, she also blossomed thanks to her grandmother\u2019s nurturing, despite longing for her mother\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

When her mother does come back for them, it was clear to the nine-year-old that her mother is unfit to raise two young children. The siblings were quickly separated when their mother sent Delano to his father and left Staceyann with her auntie in an area called Paradise. What she experienced is anything but. The crowded, run down house of horrors was Staceyann\u2019s nightmare. Abusive hands, harsh rules and unbearable conditions plagued her, but also helped\u00a0her to protect and save herself.<\/p>\n

From there, Staceyann\u2019s quest for stability led\u00a0to the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0her sexuality. After finally freeing from her auntie, she can be without the fear of punishment. She flourished at school, and later college, where she fell in love with a girl. Unafraid, Staceyann made this pronouncement to her classmates in her usual vociferous fashion. In Jamaica. Where violent homophobia runs rampant. But that\u2019s of no matter to Staceyann Chin. She\u2019s who she is, and makes no apologies.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the heart of This Side of Paradise<\/em>. While the seeds of neglect were planted with her mother\u2019s disappearance, Staceyann cultivated this angst into the fruit of hope and fortitude. It helped that she had a wicked sense of humor and quick wits to match. Paradise<\/em> is hard to swallow at times. Knowing she\u2019s survived is the all the happy ending you need.<\/p>\n

Reviewed August 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 Scribner, Feb. 2010 Genre(s):\u00a0 Coming of Age, Lesbian Real Life Pages:\u00a0\u00a0261 Website:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.staceyannchin.com Staceyann Chin \u2013 writer, prolific poet, political activist and purveyor of knowing your pussy \u2013 never had life easy. Growing up in Jamaica without a father and being abandoned by her mother almost promised her future would end up a tragic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[44,54,136,156,258,292,311,328,421,425,464,510],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7343,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions\/7343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}