Monday, January 18, 2016

A Slice of History: Dog Bone Soup

Notes from Jacquie: I highly recommend Dog Bone Soup. It is well-written, entertaining, and thought provoking. An excellent read for middle school through adult readers.

Bette A Stevens, author of Dog Bone Soup, tells the fast-paced and compelling story of Shawn Daniels, a young man growing up in the post World War II era. 

With each turn of the page the boy finds ways to manage what could be the helplessness of persistent poverty, abuse, a wife-beating alcoholic father, and the social stigma of being an outcast. 

Shawn and his sometimes lazy brother Willie chop wood, catch fish, milk cows in the neighbor's field under the cover of early morning, and so much more to help their mother and two sisters survive in tough times.
Bette A. Stevens

An important element of the story is the realistic, and seldom-told, life of the poor during the post war era. 

Shawn and his family lived without running water, indoor plumbing and other basic conveniences. While he met the qualifications for college, he did not have the resources to finance his education. 

Shawn's pride, a trait he inherited from his mother, did not allow him to accept help from others. He, as many other young men of the time, asserted his independence and carved his path out of poverty by joining the army. This was at a time when the United States was expanding interest in Vietnam. Hopefully, Bette Stevens will tell us about the next chapter in the life of Shawn Daniels.

Author Page: Bette A. Stevens

This book is available at Jacquie's Store, Bette's Author Page and on Amazon




3 comments:

Bette A. Stevens said...

Thank you, Jacquie! I'm honored to have DOG BONE SOUP featured on your blog, an educational base that I'm thrilled to have discovered. I look forward to following you and sharing many invaluable educational posts with my own readers. Blessings to you and yours, Bette

Micki Peluso is the author of "And the Whippoorwill Sang" said...

Jacquie, you did a nice overview of Bette Steven's wonderful book'Dog Bone Soup.' I read this book and believe it should be on the shelves of all middle school libraries.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the feedback. I was not familiar with your work. I look forward to reading And the Whippoorwill Sang. Wishing you the best. Jacquie