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

What a great find! I picked this book up at the Salvation Army and loved it! It is the true story of a woman who supported her family of 10 kids by doing what she did best- write jingles or finish a line in 25 words or less. She was a gifted writer and she won many prizes to prove it; two cars, numerous trips, bicycles, toys, kitchen appliances and a boat-load of money- all used to support her family. She was a hero to her kids and a true inspiration to the rest of us.

Evelyn Ryan was a housewife and mother in Defiance, Ohio who between the 1950s and 1960's (the contest era) entered every contest available. She wrote poetry, prose, jingles, short stories for the newspaper. With her winnings she managed to keep her family afloat and poverty at bay. Her husband was a typical man of the time; worked, drank, managed the money. By entering contests where ever she found them - TV, radio, newspapers, etc Evelyn was able to win bicycles, watches, washing machines, dryers, cars, trips and even a jutebox. She sold almost all of her prizes because her family needed the money. The story is about her upbeat, look at the good side of life personality. She raised ten kids who turned out to be strong honest hard-working people. I really liked the book and would recommend it to everyone.

I loved this book. It showed how a person could take difficulty and keep going despite it all.

This was a decent read but overall I was disappointed. For the first half of the book I felt like I was reading the same chapter over and over again. We were poor, mom entered a contest, (insert catchy entry here) she won a prize. It picked up at the end but was too repetative for me.

I loved this book! I also saw the movie. Its about how one woman supplements her familys income with contests. The husband of the family is a alcoholic who resents her winning but needs the money and prizes to get by. This is based on a true woman.