{"id":264,"date":"2007-12-01T12:01:44","date_gmt":"2007-12-01T17:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/blog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2020-05-09T13:36:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T17:36:39","slug":"strapped-by-laurinda-d-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=264","title":{"rendered":"Strapped by Laurinda D. Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1933967218\/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=li3&amp;tag=sistontheshel-20&amp;linkId=04b04b80c6bf1e0684fcfb91f63a782e&amp;language=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&amp;ASIN=1933967218&amp;Format=_SL250_&amp;ID=AsinImage&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;WS=1&amp;tag=sistontheshel-20&amp;language=en_US\" width=\"241\" height=\"391\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><strong>Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 <\/strong>Urban Books, Oct. 2007<br \/>\n<strong>Genre(s):<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Romance, Street Life<br \/>\n<strong>Pages:<\/strong>\u00a0 223<br \/>\n<strong>Website:\u00a0<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ldbrownbooks.com\">http:\/\/www.ldbrownbooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><p><strong class=\"rating\">Rating:<\/strong>&nbsp;<img src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/xavins-review-ratings\/default\/star.png\" alt=\"&#9733;\" title=\"3.5\/5\" \/><img src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/xavins-review-ratings\/default\/star.png\" alt=\"&#9733;\" title=\"3.5\/5\" \/><img src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/xavins-review-ratings\/default\/star.png\" alt=\"&#9733;\" title=\"3.5\/5\" \/><img src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/xavins-review-ratings\/default\/half_star.png\" alt=\"&frac12;\" title=\"3.5\/5\" \/><img src=\"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/xavins-review-ratings\/default\/blank_star.png\" alt=\"&#9734;\" title=\"3.5\/5\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to <em><strong>STRAPPED<\/strong><\/em>, the latest novel from Laurinda D. Brown, several things come to mind.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong><em>Strapped<\/em><\/strong><\/span> to the childhood pain that carries into adulthood\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Strapped<\/span><\/em><\/strong> by an identity that you\u2019re not quite sure is you\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Strapped <\/span><\/em><\/strong>and ready for anything that happens\u2026<\/p>\n<p>All this and more consumes the story of <em>Strapped<\/em>, which follows Mo from Brown\u2019s 2006 novel, <em>Walk Like a Man<\/em>. Mo used to be Monique, until a life-changing moment strips her previous feminine identity in favor of the studded-out persona Mo adopts to help her deal. Leaving her family behind, Mo takes on the streets and finds the world accepts her as a man. It gets confusing when she finds love with Laquita, and Mo has to eventually reveal her true self.<\/p>\n<p>Compounding issues is Mo\u2019s mother, Elise, who lives in deep denial about the tragedy\u2019s in both her and Mo\u2019s life. It\u2019s only wearing Mo down when she doesn\u2019t have a mother she can turn to. They each have her own healing to do, especially when Mo\u2019s thuggish ways get her landed in some hot water; she needs her mother more than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Brown\u2019s <em>Strapped <\/em>has some major issues going on: sexuality, abuse, and parental responsibility. She has clearly channeled Mo\u2019s pain and anger, but also her confusion about her sexuality. It\u2019s a debate many lesbians have had amongst each other: is your sexuality intrinsic or born from childhood tragedy? While many would disavow Mo\u2019s lesbian confusion, Brown paints the picture that this is the reality for some women.<\/p>\n<p>Strap up readers, cause this is definitely a dramatic ride.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reviewed December 2007<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 Urban Books, Oct. 2007 Genre(s):\u00a0\u00a0Romance, Street Life Pages:\u00a0 223 Website:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.ldbrownbooks.com When it comes to STRAPPED, the latest novel from Laurinda D. Brown, several things come to mind. Strapped to the childhood pain that carries into adulthood\u2026 Strapped by an identity that you\u2019re not quite sure is you\u2026 Strapped and ready for anything that [&hellip;]<\/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":[140,401,468],"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\/264"}],"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=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7447,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions\/7447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}