Another 5✰ Review for DOG BONE SOUP by Bette A. Stevens
Poignant and Inspiring!
Dog Bone Soup by Bette A. Stevens is not just the story of Shawn and his struggle to get a decent life, it is a family saga of adventures, sacrifices, togetherness and resilience. It is inspiring as well as poignant, a rare combination to create. Henrietta emerges to be a wonderful mother, giving all the care and attention to her kids though she had zero moral support from her self-centered and alcoholic husband, more interested in watching T.V. than looking after his own children.
The story is set in the 50’s when moccasins could be freely used to discipline children! Despite the challenges of poverty and meagre food, nobody has any complaints except Mr.Daniels. Life was hard and Shawn being the eldest in the family suffers the most yet he stands like a rock when he is old enough to handle his father’s violence.
A streak of thin light shimmers throughout the story, assuring the reader that struggles bring the best out of us. The hope never dies, as kind people keep trickling in to provide work and life-time lessons to Shawn and Willie. Characterisation has been handled very well and one person who stands out is Mrs Ashley, an old lady with the heart of gold, a book lover who fed the poor boys, read stories to them and even taught them how to use a typewriter when they accompanied their uncle to help in cutting the trees.
This book is relevant for the present generation for two reasons—one it acquaints them with history and the way people strived to wriggle out of domestic violence, lack of love and tough situations. Two, how comfortable life is today for children with no fear of moccasins! ~Balroop Singh, author
This review is from: DOG BONE SOUP (Historical Fiction/Ages 11-Adult): A Boomer’s Journey (Kindle Edition)
- Take a ‘Look Inside’ and grab a copy of DOG BONE SOUP (available in paperback $10.99 and eBook $3.99 OR purchase paperback and download eBook version for #FREE) at YOUR AMAZON today http://bit.ly/1HGpCsZ
- Find out more about Maine author/illustrator Bette A. Stevens and check out her books (children’s literature, children’s activity book and fiction for ages 10-adult) at http://viewauthor.at/BetteAStevens
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Dog bone soup was the meal Shawn hated most at his house. Not only because the soup was weak and thin, but because they had to eat like this to put money away. And they had to hide it, too, since if Shawn’s dad got wind of it, he’d take it and blow it on liquor and women.
“DOG BONE SOUP is a fascinating literary study of poverty and family dysfunction in the 1950s & 1960s. It is written in a fast-flowing, entertaining style that kept my turning pages, one after another.
Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies—an endangered species (and for milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).
Author Bio
Written
on 07/04/2017