Customer Reviews

Trapped between Lash and Gun

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4 star:		(2)
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Arvella has written a wonderful novel about a modern day teen trying to cope without his daddy by joining a gang of cobras. With a time travelling watch, he goes back to the days of slavery and lives a rough life. This "slave life" teaches him that being with family and learning are the 2 most positive experiences in life. The characters of Jordan and Uriah are well written. Many teens should read this book.

Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun was a great book! I really liked the way the author mixed history with the present in a realistic way. There was a lot of excitement in the book, and I could never put it down. I would definitely recommend reading it!

Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun is a story about a young man about to join a gang. As part of the initiation into the gang, this African-American youth has to buy a gun. To get money for this gun, he steals his grandfather's watch - a prized family heirloom which has been passed down through his family since the days of slavery.

As he walks to the pawn shop with the watch in his hand, he is suddenly transported back to the days of slavery in the old South. Not knowing how to survive this brutal time period, not knowing the rules of survival as a slave, he must learn to survive long enough to get back to the present.

I have taught this novel in my eighth grade language arts class for several years. It has been accorded the highest honor as my students ask - "Can we read Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun" again, today?
What a joy to teach a book that students eagerly read and enjoy.

In the process, this book teaches that gang-life and slavery are one and the same. They both operate on the basis of fear and brutality while binding one to a system where there is no escape.

A boy by the name of Jordan Scott has got himself in big trouble. Jordan's friends are bad news, and his family does not know about them. Jordan has a little sister by the name of Tachelle, and Jordan's mom is always on his case. Jordan's dad had left a while ago, and Jordan is mostly on his own. Jordan hangs out with a gang called the "Cobras." Jordan needed to get money fast for a gun, and he did not have any. Jordan went to visit his grandpa, and he remembered that he always talked about a watch that he had. Jordan's grandpa said it was passed down through generations from the slave years. Jordan figured that it would be worth a lot of money.
Jordan went to his grandpa's house, and stole the watch. Jordan didn't want to, but he had to. If Jordan didn't, he would probably die. Jordan had to hurry up and take it, so he wouldn't be late. While walking down the street in the dark, he heard a loud clicking noise coming from the watch. All of a sudden, Jordan was light headed, and felt like he was going to pass out. Jordan was all of a sudden in the middle of nowhere. Jordan went back to the slave years some how.
Will Jordan survive as a slave, and will he be able to go back to his own world, or will he be stuck there forever?
What I liked about this book was that it was very adventurous. There was no dull moment throughout the whole book. What I didn't like was how the story was set up, because some parts did not make since.
The people who would like this book would be anybody. There are mixes of boy and girl characters, so either boys or girls would be eligible to read this book. Any boy or girl, twelve and up can read this book.
I have not read any other books by this author, but I am looking forward to it.

Brilliant! We chose Trapped for our 9 year old son because we thought it would reinforce what my wife and I are working to teach him as an up and coming young African-American man. Arvella Whitmore weaved a powerful comparison between slavery of human beings and the self-imposed slavery of our minds, low self-esteem, taking short cuts, and gravitating to people and institutions that tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear. Jordan's disinterest in his family's recent history (his father) and past history placed him in a position to potentially experience a personal version of Slavery of his own creation. My son Micah, gave me an assignment after he read Trapped. "Dad, you read this book." I not only understood the book, I felt the story and the characters. I held my breath, felt the lash, cried and held hands with them as they did all they could to become free!

Rufus Curry, Jr.
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army
Author: One Week Gig or
[...]

I bought this book for my 13 year old daughter and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It was bought as a English assignment so she had to read along with the class. She actually had to slow herself down because she was not allowed to read ahead of the class but she was anxious to finish it.