Punkin & the Praying Mantis

About the Book

“Punkin & The Praying Mantis” This book is a novel based on the story of the author’s childhood while living in the backwoods of Alabama in the “Iron Fists” of her step-father, a debauched country preacher, who abuses her and uses her for his own sexual gratification after accidentally killing her mother. It embodies the gamut of emotions, suspense, sex, sadness, joy, humor and triumph. It is a macabre story of her life from age five to age eleven. It involves a number of burning issues ¾ domestic violence, murder, incest, and child abuse. She survived not one but all of these traumatizing ordeals before she was ten years old. Many will wonder how she survived these unspeakable horrors. Others will wonder why she didn’t run away or seek help. Yet, you must realize that a seven-year-old child is not in control of its own life. They are only helpless beings; ill equipped, and yet shackled with the task of dealing with whatever hand fate has dealt to them. Before her mother was killed, she was raised to respect and obey adults without question, and without contest. As a result, she was condemned to bear her cross alone. Her main purpose for telling her story is out of concern for today’s abused children and for the benefit of others who may have had to endure similar atrocities and have not yet overcome the after effects of their ordeal. Although this book is a story about a child, it is ironic that it is not fit for a child to read. Because of the sadism and the explicit descriptions of sexual perversions that it contains, its contents are definitely for “adults only.”

About the Author

Minnie A. Straughn was born in rural Alabama on October 16, 1921. Once she escaped the clutches of her demonic stepfather, she became an orphan and lived with approximately twelve different families who took her in off the streets from time to time. She married Mr. John Brown, a steel worker in Birmingham, in 1938. In 1950, they to move to Detroit, Michigan. At that time, she could barely read and write. She corrected this shortcoming by attending night school. Today, she is the founder and owner of “Minnie’s Cakes,” one of the most successful specialty cake bakeries in the city of Detroit.