How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less - The Prize Winner of Defiance

There is a movie starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson based on this book. I saw the movie first and absolutely loved it. When I realized the movie was based on a book, I went looking for it.

I absolutely loved the book and would recommend it to anyone.

Poignant and powerful in its depiction of a resourceful mom, her addicted husband and plucky family of ten children, this is an absorbing, thoughtful and humorous story of getting by and building a life contest by contest with creativity and skill.

The true story of a tough, resourceful, and incredibly resilient mother of 10 kids dealing with a difficult situation made worse by her alcoholic husband. Sounds depressing, but it certainly isn't! Beautifully written by one of the 10 generously laced with humor and love. If you don't enjoy this book, rigor mortis must be setting in!

I happened to stumble upon this movie on cable and really enjoyed it, so I thought I would read the book too. I enjoyed this book as weel as the movie. Really nice story about an incredible woman and her children. Dad certainly had his demons to wrestle with, but in the end he comes through.

The book was very well written, but the digital version is a mess. An amazing amount of typo' s, it made the book difficult to get through. I wanted to read the book after seeing the movie, and I'm glad that I did. If the digital version were cleaned up, the book would have easily gotten another star from me.

I cannot express the joy, admiration and sometimes sadness of reading this book. I bought it when it first came out for my Mother as a Mothers Day gift with the request of getting to read it when she was done! I am from Ohio, so that part of the book inspired me, but what a wonderful Mother she was! This book will make you proud of taking the time to read! Enjoy

Back before sweepstakes and powerballs, you needed talent to win big. This is the story of Evelyn Ryan, a truly talented woman. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. An outstanding tribute to a remarkable person.

This is an the store purchase for my Kindle. This was a delightful book to read. The perserverance of the author is incredible and the description of the family is wonderful. Truly an inspirational read.

How we perceive things as children is so different than when we look back as adults. I actually met some people from Defiance the other day. This was a wonderful book. Thanks for sharing your mother's life.

This was a truly an inspiring story! It not only paints a picture of what life was like in the 1950's for a married woman with a family to raise, but also shows how perseverance, resilience, and optimism can be an inspiration to us all.

A great story of one woman's ingenuity and determination to care for her family. I had nothing but admiration for what she accomplished during an era when women did not have the opportunities to pursue higher education and follow their dreams.

It doesn't seem like much of an interesting story unless you really like what this woman did all the time. It seemed to become her life. Constantly thinking of sayings and rhymes to enter contests.if you like that then you would like the book.

In this memoir, author Terry Ryan tells the story of how her mother was able to be the main breadwinner for a family of 10 children in the 1950s-60s through her love of "contesting".While modern day companies still use the method of contests and sweepstakes to attract more business and increase their fan bases, the entry process has changed. These days, some contests will ask you to submit something creative to be considered as an entry, but most will simply just request email or mailing information as an entry. Back in the 50s and 60s, when Evelyn Ryan (Terry's mother -- Terry is Evelyn's second eldest daughter) was participating, it often required a submission of a poem, catchy jingle, finishing a phrase, etc. Before becoming a wife and mother, Evelyn had worked as a columnist for the Sherwood Chronicle newspaper (Sherwood, Ohio), so she was no stranger to wordsmithing!

Ryan writes of how her mother would go about doing the laundry, ironing, meal planning / prepping all while crafting jingles or little ditties for one contest or another she had discovered. Evelyn would keep a simple spiral notebook near her at all times to write down the best ideas. She'd also use that notebook to keep track of the numerous contests she was entered in at any given time, as one of her secrets was to submit multiple entries under several variations of either her name or one of the children's. When one of the companies would contact to let her know she won something, she'd have to look up the name the company called her to remind herself what she entered to win! Terry writes that whenever Evelyn was interviewed after a win, she was quick to clarify that her wins weren't so much a result of luck as much as dedication and WORK. She would tell people that she had been entering contests since her teens so she was well versed in winning strategies. Evelyn also points out that she actually never won any contest in which winners' names were chosen at random, only ones where something creative had to be submitted by each individual applicant. Throughout this book, Terry shares some of her mother's submitted pieces. Some of them are confusing (even Terry admits that not all were real winners, but sometimes Evelyn would submit them anyway, just to see what would happen). Some of them were pretty humorously risque for the time period!

Terry also shares her own memories of how her mother seemed to save every label or UPC code off of nearly any grocery item ever bought -- "just in case", her mother would reason -- and how there always seemed to be some jar or container in the sink soaking off a label. Evelyn was even known to sometimes go through the trash neighbors set out, looking for even more codes or entry forms for later use. Whenever there were dry spells where she didn't seem to be winning much, Evelyn would supplement the family income by writing poems, articles or humor pieces to submit to magazines and local papers (those that offered pay for submissions, that is).

I was impressed by Evelyn's dedication to provide for her family no matter what. I'm not sure what she was able to accomplish would even be possible in today's expensive world! She knew her talents and created a system in which to provide the household with whatever it needed. The washer broke? She's hunt down a giveaway for a washer and put all her energy into winning it (and she'd win!). Unexpected expenses? She'd gather up won prizes and turn them in for cash value. She used her can-do, optimistic nature to persevere through one major challenge after another -- from family medical expenses, to the their one car dying on them, to a husband with an alcohol & anger problem, to his crap math skills and sporadic employment damn near causing them to lose their house! It was tough to read what Evelyn had to put up with during her husband's lowest points, but he did seem to have a bit of a turn-around in their later years. With every setback she would let herself have a little cry and then straighten her skirt and get to finding a solution. Terry writes that her mother had a knack for taking the family's toughest, darkest times and soon putting a humorous spin on it in the next poem or jingle, giving herself (and readers that could relate!) a laugh at a tough situation. That's a woman to take notes from!

This memoir was a charming look at a time in life when people worked through tough times with ingenuity and perseverance, rather than whiny, over-privileged rants. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd also recommend seeing the movie adaptation of this book where Julianne Moore plays Evelyn and Woody Harrelson her husband. I saw the movie years ago, and having now read the book I feel like the movie stuck pretty close to how Terry Ryan laid out this memoir.

I expected this book to be more fulfilling and entertaining. It wasn't. It was more of a collection of stories and ditties taped together with the requisite alcoholic father and poverty. I've read many, many other similar tales that were better crafted. Couldn't wait to get to the end so I could get this book club pick behind me.

The writer has put on her rose colored glasses and taken a trip down memory lane. The book is a tribute to her mother who kept the family together despite being married to an alcoholic abusive husband. What's more she did it with next to no money and a sense of humour. The humour went along way in her prize winning career but after about fifty jingles the shine had worn off for me.

This was not the Brady bunch. This was a hard working family struggling to survive. It would have been nice to see a little more depth to the story. But it was a nice easy read if your in the mood for this type of book.

This book introduces us to Mrs. Evelyn Ryan. Mother of ten, married to an alcohlic, whiz with words. Just the ten kids and the difficult marriage would be enough to cause most people to blame, fall to pieces, run away, or whatever scenario you can think of to not handle an overload like that.

Evelyn Ryan never ran away and she never blamed and she raised her ten kids with dignity. As a matter of fact, most of them graduated from college after they left her home. Always one step away from hunger, creditors, and even the loss of her beloved home, Evelyn stands tall and faces her troubles by entering prize winning contests where she blossomed with her quick wit and display of intelligent grace.

This is a wonderful book. If you ever think you've got money troubles step into Mrs. Evelyn Ryan's shoes for a while and she how she handles adversity. It will truly inspire you. This is a book you'll want to keep and read again for Evelyn Ryan is a wonderful example of spririt and grace.

This brave woman from Defiance, OH is a wonder. I enjoyed this book very much. It shows what strong character, mixed with a dash of miracles can do. The strength of Evelyn Ryan was a blessing to her kids and in this book it doesn't cast a shadow over the family for things that happened, it positively blooms. This book doesn't focus on the bad, it focuses on the good which in times of trouble is very hard to do but but by reading this book Evelyn shows a fine example of how it's done.

Terry Ryan's tribute to her mother is a heartwarming book, and it provides some good lessons to apply toward life. Evelyn Ryan showed confidence and perseverance, even when the odds were against her and even when she had failed before. Many of her entries failed to win, but she never let this get her down. She had a dogged determination to succeed, and her persistence paid off.

Terry points out that the kids often wondered if mom had a direct connection to God. The nuns at their school taught them to frequently pray, and their prayers were always answered, when it mattered the most. To win a few contests here and there was one thing; but to win so many big prizes was another thing altogether. It made the kids realize that big dreams were possible, with the right attitude. In fact, the Ryan children, thanks to mom's example, all went on to lead successful lives as adults. Two of the brothers were pitchers for the Detroit Tigers (careers cut short by injury), and Terry Ryan herself adopted her mom's love of writing and has published two works of poetry and is a regular featured cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. The other kids have enjoyed similar degrees of success also, and it was mainly due to their mother's example.

Terry Ryan's book is 346 pages in length, with a cover price of $24.00. Included in the pages are family pictures, copies of actual contest entry forms, and many, many examples of mom's written jingles.

This is a very good book for all to read. It's a "feel good" book; one that will leave you happy and wanting to cheer. Of all the families that could win, it's nice to see so much success bestowed on a large family that really needed the help. Thanks to mom's talent for writing, the Ryan family was able to save itself from financial ruin, and triumph in the face of adversity.

The moral of the story: the only real losers are those who fail to try and who develop a negative attitude. Like Evelyn Ryan, the Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio has shown, good things will come to those who persevere!

The author found years of 1950's jingles and slogans contest forms and notes in her deceased mother's trunks. From this treasure trove, she had the courage and source material to share an inspirational story of her mother's triumphs as a contest applicant. This sounds like a recipe for a sleeper, but the author has inherited a great deal of her mother's literary and creative gift. She artfully weaves the various jingles into the story and they become another lead player. The larger story is one of persistence, creativity and goodness in a challenging home environment of the small-town midwest, a large family, an alcoholic father and a tenuous economic situation. This is a well-written, interesting and touching story. The author reads the story on the CD-version, making it even more personal and enjoyable.

As I was writing this, a Publishers Clearinghouse window popped open. Some things never change!