The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

In the 1950s, advertising agencies put enthusiastic consumers to work, encouraging them to write jingles and slogans with promises of big rewards. Author Terry Ryan's mother was one of those "contesters" who accepted every challenge. With 10 children and an unreliable husband, Evelyn Ryan actually kept the family afloat, sometimes a dollar at a time from poetry contests, sometimes with more lucrative wins like cars, trips, and cash. Simply put, this audiobook is amazing. Carrington MacDuffie's reading fits the author's voice: earnest, affectionate, and real. The listener is absorbed in family drama as tough times are consistently tempered by triumph. Punctuated by the witty entries themselves, this memoir is a tribute to the American spirit. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine