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192 reviews for:
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less
Terry Ryan
3.86 AVERAGE
192 reviews for:
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less
Terry Ryan
3.86 AVERAGE
Kinda makes you wish they still had contests requiring skill, rather than the random drawings of modern sweepstakes. I'm pretty good with words. I probably coulda won me some cool stuff.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Great book about a time long gone. The author's mother had a great strategy to bring in money and goods to help her large family--something she couldn't do today.
I very much enjoyed this story of a smart, crafty woman raising her family of 12 with her wit and intellect.
I think the author's depiction of her mother was a bit saccharine in this memoir. While I admire many of Ms. Ryan's positive qualities that kept her family afloat, she certainly was not perfect. I would even argue that some of her shortcomings perpetuated the family's problems. All together, though, this was a light, nostalgic read that I enjoyed.
I loved this book. Such an inspiring story of one woman's tenacity and goal to keep her family going in the toughest of times. What a mother!!!!
okay read. i love that time period where the marriages were cemented in, dad knocked back a few after work and june cleaver was in the kitchen making dinner every night for 530. I guess i love the sickly sweet tv of that time.
anyway, this book was a story of a woman who had 10 kids and the husbands pay wasn't cutting it to support them and since the kids were varying ages from toddler to 20 something the mom stayed home. And to help out financially she starts entering contests. What i liked was how I learned how rampant contesting was. All sorts of products had entries to win dollars to trips and cars. She entered and one hundreds of them.
And the dad was a drunk. But i hated how that part was glossed over. One of the daughters wrote the book and she kept it very superficial with the details of life hence the 3 stars. I think a memoir, if you're going to go that route you need to tell the details (which is why writing non-fiction is brave).
it was a quick la-di-da read.
anyway, this book was a story of a woman who had 10 kids and the husbands pay wasn't cutting it to support them and since the kids were varying ages from toddler to 20 something the mom stayed home. And to help out financially she starts entering contests. What i liked was how I learned how rampant contesting was. All sorts of products had entries to win dollars to trips and cars. She entered and one hundreds of them.
And the dad was a drunk. But i hated how that part was glossed over. One of the daughters wrote the book and she kept it very superficial with the details of life hence the 3 stars. I think a memoir, if you're going to go that route you need to tell the details (which is why writing non-fiction is brave).
it was a quick la-di-da read.
What a great remembrance of daily living in the 50s and 60s. I loved the tenacious spirit of Evelyn Ryan. I cried from the part where she was entering the Dr. Pepper contest to the very end of the book.
A true testament that riches reside within us! A book on the very power of motherhood.
The 50s and 60s were an era of jingles and contests for all kinds of brands: in this book, we find contests sponsored by everything from Bic pens to laundry detergents to Almond Joy bars. And Evelyn Ryan, a housewife and mother of 10, works hard at these contests to keep her family afloat while her husband drinks away a good deal of his paycheck.
Told by Terry, one of those 10 children, this true story is unique and heart-warming. It was fun to find out that one of the fellow contest winners whom Evelyn befriends (Emma) was my uncle’s aunt. Such a neat tie-in! The never-ending lists of contest entries can get to be a bit much, but I understand why they’re there. Has anyone seen the movie? I’m interested to see it now.
Told by Terry, one of those 10 children, this true story is unique and heart-warming. It was fun to find out that one of the fellow contest winners whom Evelyn befriends (Emma) was my uncle’s aunt. Such a neat tie-in! The never-ending lists of contest entries can get to be a bit much, but I understand why they’re there. Has anyone seen the movie? I’m interested to see it now.