Stuck on the Steps

by Nina

Poetry - General
155 Pages
Reviewed on 01/03/2012
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Author Biography

Nina was born and raised in Maryland where she currently resides with her fiancé and daughter. Nina works as a Human Resource Manager for a small business firm. It is there where she gained the motivation and inspiration to finish writing her novel and contemplating entrepreneurship. Nina finally decided it was time to acknowledge a yearning that had shadowed her from childhood. In October of 2011, Stuck on the Steps was born. Nina is now an author, upcoming playwright, performing artist and President/CEO of Feisty Entertainment Publications. Nina’s writing has helped her to express her deepest emotions while reflecting on her life. In her leisure, Nina enjoys performing poetry, exercising, writing and reading. She is currently working on her second novel for 2012.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Lori M for Readers' Favorite

"Stuck on the Steps" by Nina is a gritty, urban, in-your-face poetic account of a young girl’s less than ideal life growing up. While she sort of rejects the ideas from family that she should recite her pieces on the mic, what she has written is definitely in the art form of rap, which is spoken-word poetry and music. All she is missing is the music. Her poems would make fabulous rap lyrics as they have the perfect cadence, rhythm and attitude for that genre. And yes, "Stuck on the Steps" is all about attitude. Nina is full of attitude. Raised by her grandmother as a result of her mother’s drug addiction, molested by an older male cousin while she was still young, and mistreated by more than one boyfriend, Nina has earned her rebellious attitude.

I enjoyed reading poetry in a story form like this author presented. It takes us through Nina’s life, her trials, and her triumph through her ability to communicate. This poetry isn’t for the timid as the language and the imagery is lewd, crude, and socially unacceptable. But it is real, very real, very touching and very vivid, which is what makes it so good.

The author starts out the section on her misguided years with these words: “I stand here on stage, engulfed in rage thinking how it was in my younger days.” Each section highlights a period in her life. I hope the author benefits from the emotional release involved in sharing this emotional autobiography of her life.