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I enjoyed the hard-working woman raising 10! kids in Ohio at a time that she could've been one of my aunts or other relatives. A mostly feel-good story of how to turn an upside situation into a right-side up life.
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I picked this book up by chance at the library, but couldn't put it down.
It's the true story of how author Terry Ryan's mother, Evelyn, supported her ten children by writing brilliant slogans for consumer competitions in 1950s America, as well as clever short comic poems which she sold to the local newspaper for a couple of dollars a time. Her husband was a sometimes violent drunk, everything in the house was falling to bits, and sometimes all there was to eat was soup with bugs (which she insis ...more
It's the true story of how author Terry Ryan's mother, Evelyn, supported her ten children by writing brilliant slogans for consumer competitions in 1950s America, as well as clever short comic poems which she sold to the local newspaper for a couple of dollars a time. Her husband was a sometimes violent drunk, everything in the house was falling to bits, and sometimes all there was to eat was soup with bugs (which she insis ...more

This is a fantastic book about an amazing woman who raised ten children and ran a household by entering and winning contests! This is definitely a must-read, especially for people in today's world who are having trouble economizing. What this woman did is mind-boggling!
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Can't remember which year I read this.
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Anecdotal biography of the author's mother and her competing in jingle contests in the mid-20th century. As other reviews have stated, it is reminiscent of Cheaper by the Dozen, but perhaps with a bit more dysfunction. What I especially liked was that the dysfunction was not the focal point of the story -- it was an unfortunate reality, but there is a spirit of optimism and hard work that carries the day.
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I was hoping for a little more umph from this book. The ending was happier than I thought it would be, but the course of the book had little pull to it. Truthfully, I scanned much of it instead of giving it a good read. It just didn't pull me in.
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Oct 10, 2010
Brittany Gillis
marked it as to-read

Feb 07, 2011
Stephanie Zundel-Smith
rated it
it was ok
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review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2011

Mar 20, 2012
Te-ge Bramhall
added it

Dec 11, 2017
Keeley
marked it as to-read

Feb 21, 2020
Janet
marked it as to-read

Oct 15, 2020
Ginger
marked it as to-read