The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: Review

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio was one of the best books I have ever read. This was so true to life that even though it was written about the life of the author's mom in the '50s and '60s. The intensity and feeling that oozes from this book is exactly as it would be for present day life.

This book, written by Terry Ryan in 2001, is a very encouraging book and a wonderful portrayal to moms everywhere. Ryan writes about her mom Evelyn and her discovering that poverty was no way to live. Work not always being what it should be for Evelyn's husband, Kelly, she soon began entering the store contests that would be advertised. These would be for coupons for free food, prizes, sometimes big things such as bicycles, cars, etc...Evelyn soon discovered that when the paycheck did not stretch far enough in the month, that she could always try her hand at entering the many contests. Most of the times, these were contests that required her to make up a poem, a limerick, a jingle for a store product.

Life was a struggle for the Ryan's because there were 10 kids to feed and not to mention her and Kelly. It seemed like just when a new issue would arise, that with her nifty ability to create a catchy jingle, she could make the money she needed or obtain the coupons for food to feed all those mouths. Sometimes the funny sections of this book came when Evelyn found that there were rules in regard to how many entries you could send. This is when she would get really creative with her name, using different initials, and different versions of her home address to give herself the advantage of possibly having more winning chances.

A normal day of ironing, or washing the tons of clothing a household of that size would produce, always left time in between to think up a new jingle or poem. She was always close to a pad of paper and pencil, since no one ever knew when inspiration would hit. Since most entries required the product label, the Ryan cupboards were full of boxtops and labels in hopes there would be a future contest.