Put on Your Crown

Publisher's Summary. Modeled after Maria Shriver's Just Who Will You Be, Queen Latifah's goal with Put On Your Crown is to help young women build a strong sense of self-esteem. A US Dept. of Justice survey found that females ages 16-24 are more vulnerable to partner violence than any other group, almost triple the national average. Cases like Chris Brown's assault on pop star Rihanna showed an ugly side of adolescent life. However, Queen Latifah has always been a shining example of a woman happy with herself and unwilling to compromise to fit into the "hollywood ideal" of what a confident beautiful woman should look like.

Review. I know this book is marketed to the 16-24 year old female demographic, but as a woman long past that age range I still thoroughly enjoyed Put on Your Crown by Queen Latifah aka Dana Owens. I listened to the audio book version which Owens narrates in a plain spoken and sincere way (girlfriend to girlfriend is how I would describe it).

Put on Your Crown addresses important moments in Owens’ life, including, the sudden death of her brother; going broke; body image issues; her parents’ divorce; growing up in the ‘hood and celebrity. She also shares literary (and audio) space with her resilient and inspiring mother, Ms. O, who also offers stories and life lessons.

While I am not familiar with Owens’ hip hop music and have only seen a few of her acting roles I grew to admire her by the book’s conclusion. She comes across as a friend who has experienced both the highs and lows of life, but still has both feet planted solidly on the ground. I especially liked when she spoke about her close relationships with her mother and late brother. For the most part, Owens seems candid about the matters she addresses: the pressure to be thin in Hollywood; the need to watch one’s money no matter how much one has; the need to take breaks to avoid burnout and chemical dependency etc. She also offers a uniquely positive message – that learning to cope with her early failures helped her later to be unafraid in the public arena.

Put on Your Crown is an authentic and powerful message for women of all ages!




Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (May 6, 2010), 208 pages.
Review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.