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Momma Bear by L.O.R.D.

In L.O.R.D.’s riveting drama, Momma Bear (Go Get It Publishing), eighteen-year-old Glenda James’s boyfriend rejects her and their baby boys, Kevin and Cory. Determined to provide for her sons, she brings them to New Haven, Connecticut, for a job. But when her plans fall through, she must choose whether to accept a gangster’s tainted generosity or struggle to feed her hungry children on meager government aid.

Fast forward nineteen years. Glenda, now a church-going pillar of her community, welcomes Kevin home after a spell in prison for a gun-possession conviction. To her dismay, her entrepreneurial sons immediately set up a lucrative cocaine-dealing operation with the help of Tate, a violent drug kingpin. Glenda also discovers that Kevin has denied fathering a baby. Horrified that her eldest would repeat his father’s cruelty, Glenda moves the poor young mother, Tashanna, into their home.

A FAMILY ANCHORING ITS COMMUNITY

Kevin apologizes for his behavior and soon comes to love Tashanna and his son. Meanwhile, Tate’s rival kills Tate and his infant in a car outside a busy restaurant. A witness mistakes Cory for the shooter, bringing about his arrest. During a nail-biting trial, Glenda, anguished but resolute, lends Cory strength. Between Kevin’s new family-man persona and his efforts to support Cory, he finds new dignity in leading a law-abiding lifestyle. However, an old enemy stalks Kevin, bent on revenge from a past feud.

Interspersed with shocking flashbacks to Glenda’s youth, Momma Bear shows the stalwart James family groping for what’s right within a society that has stacked the odds against Black youth and their loved ones in neighborhoods with high murder rates.

ESSENTIAL READING ABOUT URBAN AND STREET LIFE

L.O.R.D., also the author of Money, Murder, and Drug Flow (Go Get It Publishing), wrote this novel during his twenty-year incarceration after a wrongful conviction in 2002. His life experience imbues the narrative with authenticity. In fact, Glenda’s glowing character is based on the author’s beloved mother. She vividly represents the matriarchs who remain vigilant, always ready to do damage control within communities plagued by crime.

When one of the book’s antagonists lies to his grandmother, promising not to seek retaliation against the man who killed his cousin, the narrator explains, “It was just a response naturally given to mothers from sons who truly play hardball in the streets, in order to keep them at bay… but seeing her in pain honestly wrenched in his heart.” Motherhood also brings excruciating choices, such as when Glenda nearly prostitutes herself to earn money for food or, later, when Tashanna steals formula for her baby.

BEAUTY AND TRAGEDY COEXIST

The novel doesn’t shy away from topics like “white guilt” or the ugly reality of living with cocaine addicts. With searing examples, L.O.R.D. demonstrates how criminal behavior becomes normalized to inhabitants of drug-infested neighborhoods, enticing young people straight into the jaws of drug addiction and dealing.

But this book does more than point out society’s problems — it also offers lighthearted moments and laughter. Tashanna’s rescue from abysmal circumstances and Kevin’s evolution from dealer to diligent sales clerk provide comfort. Glenda shines as a guiding hand that sets wrongs right at every opportunity she can. Spot-on dialogue brings laughter, and descriptions of neighbors enjoying summer days add to the enjoyment.

With unputdownable action scenes, the book is reminiscent of classics like Boyz ‘n the Hood (Signet Classics), Trick Baby (Cash Money Content) and Concrete Rose (Balzer & Bray). As both family drama and urban suspense, Momma Bear follows through with fast-paced storytelling, capped by a satisfying, albeit tough, conclusion. Readers will not quickly forget the James family’s love and resilience.

Momma Bear is available for purchase on Amazon.

 

 

About L.O.R.D.:

L.O.R.D. has been incarcerated for going on 20 years. He began writing while in prison and has published two novels throughout the course of his confinement. Growing up as an inner-city youth, he has seen, engaged in, and been affected by the many detriments of his environment. Currently, he is using his knowledge and experience of the past to create alternative routes that would allow others who grew up as he did to avoid paths of destruction. His first novel, Money, Murder and Drug Flow, is undergoing revisions, and his current novel, Momma Bear, is on sale now.

He has never let being incarcerated stopped him from doing what needs to be done on the outside, whether it was taking care of family or taking care of business.

He has now channeled his energy into this business and his literary works. It is that same work ethic and hustle he had many years ago on the streets which led to his incarceration that will now lead and inspire his family and community to go out and never settle for less, no matter the circumstances.

Buy this Book!

Barnes & Noble
Momma Bear by L.O.R.D.
Publish Date: 07/15/2022
Author: L.O.R.D.
Page Count: 194 pages
Publisher: BookBaby
ISBN: 9781532333866
Gisèle Lewis

Gisèle writes about Florida life, art, and volunteering with the local refugee community. She loves synchronized swimming, wine consumption, and teaching her daughters to curse in French. To learn about her publications and interviews with women readers, visit her website.

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