Books
Chicago Author Shonta Henderson Traces Path from ‘Terror Town’ to Spiritual Coaching in New Memoir
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Shonta Henderson has released "Shonta vs. Lawless," a memoir recounting her upbringing at 79th and Essex on Chicago’s South Side, an area she and others from the neighborhood call Terror Town. The book, published through Newman Springs Publishing, went on sale August 15 in paperback for $25.95.
The memoir follows Henderson’s early entanglement in what the book describes as gangster culture and her time in the criminal justice system, through to her present work as a spiritual coach. According to the book’s own description, the narrative is structured around a tension the title makes literal: a running conflict between "Shonta," and "Lawless," the persona attached to her years on the street, with the book framed as her account of reconciling the two.
Henderson founded Golden Life Spiritual Readings LLC in 2021, and according to the publisher, she drew upon both her coaching work and years of personal writing when creating the memoir. The book is categorized as biography and autobiography, and its publisher-supplied synopsis describes it as recounting what it calls unforgettable and terrifying events from her life.
"I wrote this book to show that no matter where you come from or what you’ve done, your story doesn’t have to end in darkness," Henderson said in a statement accompanying the release. "My journey from Terror Town to spiritual coaching proves that change is real, and I hope my truth inspires others to seek their own light."
"Shonta vs. Lawless" is available in paperback and through major e-book retailers, including Amazon, Google Play, Apple Books and Barnes & Noble.
Studio CarryOnHarry covers memoirs like this one because the trajectory they describe, from incarceration to coaching and public testimony, is its own small but recurring category in self-published nonfiction, and worth tracking as a genre in itself.
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