The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book several years ago, shortly after it was published, and I loved it. Entertaining, uplifting, and incredibly inspiring, it is the true story of a remarkable mother of 10 children who held her family together financially by clipping and using coupons, entering contests, and submitting jingles for advertising contests. She is optimistic with a strong sense of humor: “Sometimes it feels like I live in a circus and all the animals are loose,” and there are some parts that are very funny. But there are also some sad ones. The book is written by one of her daughters who comments, “From then on, we knew there could never be a problem bigger than Mom's ability to solve it. . . we knew that as long as we used our brains, we were not victims. By striking out to write our own ticket, we would grow up to be like our mother, winners.” I highly recommend it.

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