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Ebook review: DOG BONE SOUP by Bette A. Stevens

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DOG BONE SOUP Launch Banner

Back in 2013 Bette A. Stevens gave us a glimpse into the life of Shawn Daniels in a little book titled PURE TRASH.  Back then, Shawn was a little kid growing up in a small town in New England and he was trying to be happy despite the fact that his father was the town’s drunk.

The story, too small back then, left us wondering whatever happened to Shawn. We now have most of the answers in Bette’s debut novel, DOG BONE SOUP.

The Dog Bone Soup is a dish you are forced to consume every day when your family is broke, your father is gone and your mother is too proud to accept charity. As you can imagine, it is the sort of food that is easy to hate, as it becomes a symbol of everything that is wrong when you are a poor kid trying to understand why others have more than you and your family do.

Shawn may be the most underprivileged kid in town, but he is far from beaten. He still carries the indomitable spirit and that is characteristic of the children who have not known failure yet.

Although he is not quite eighteen years old, Shawn is confronted with several serious problems: He is trying to feed his family and keep his father from coming back home to beat his mother, all while struggling to get good grades in school and worrying about whether to go to college or join the army.

Unfortunately, not everything is going according to Shawn’s plan.

DOG BONE SOUP is a coming-of-age story that will set you thinking about your childhood and about your children. It is a novel filled up with both sad and happy moments, and unless I am mistaken, it is prose that will make you cry at least once.

Read it to understand how fortunate you and your children are and to remember to be happy.

To learn more about Bette A. Stevens and her books, you can visit the following links:

Best

Joe

My mission is to help English writing authors reach the Latino Market by translating their eBooks to Spanish. Contact me at http://www.publicatuebook.ca or at joe@publicatuebook.ca

DOG BONE SOUP is not only the title of Bette A. Stevens’s debut novel; it ranks high among the paltry meals that the book’s protagonist, Shawn Daniels, wants to forget. Plodding through mounting snow and battling howling winds, Shawn is ready to leave it all behind—living in poverty, Dad’s drinking, life in foster care, the divorce, the bullies….

Travel with Shawn Daniels through the guts and the glories of life. You’ll find them all in DOG BONE SOUP, a Boomer’s coming-of-age saga. Available now at “YOUR AMAZON”

From the Reviewers

“Dog Bone Soup is the poignant tale of a dysfunctional family struggling to survive in America in the 50s and 60s, when most others were on the crest of a wave. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. But most of all it will make you glad you read it.” ~ Charlie Bray, founder of the Indietribe

“In Dog Bone Soup, Bette Stevens captures the feeling and images of growing up in hardscrabble times perfectly.” ~ John Clark, librarian and author

DOG BONE SOUP

READ the opening Excerpt from Chapter One right here…

DOG BONE SOUP BW Border 2015The postcard arrived four days before my eighteenth birthday. All I had to do now was sign the final papers and light out for basic training. I could hardly wait to leave this place behind.

There were six of us ready to become soldiers. The other five guys were headed to Fort Dix. Soon as we were inducted, the sergeant who swore us in started calling us a bunch of lily-assed bastards and worse. When the jerk marched the other five guys off, I was happy as hell I wasn’t one of them.

Lieutenant Richards called me into his office. “You’ll be heading out tomorrow, Private Daniels. Here are your tickets.”

We sat in his office and talked about my future with the U.S. Army. Then he handed me a schedule for the next day’s journey and we went over every detail.

“Now let’s get you home so you can get a good night’s sleep before you fly off to serve Uncle Sam, soldier.”

“Good luck Private,” the lieutenant said when he dropped me off at the house. We saluted and I stood there watching until his car disappeared over the hill.

I’d always liked army people. They called me Mr. Daniels and even sir sometimes. Now I was officially a private in the U.S. Army and I was ready to start a new life. I pictured myself in an officer’s uniform one day—a lieutenant, a captain, maybe even a general.

Mum and I didn’t get much more than a few winks of sleep that night. I don’t know how many pots of coffee she perked while we sat at the kitchen table and talked the night away. Of course, it was Mum did most of the talking. Once she opened her picture books, I felt like I was drinking in the life I wanted to leave.

Mum took all of those pictures with her Brownie—that camera was her pride and joy. None of us kids was allowed to touch it unless she supervised a picture taking every now and then. If Dad wasn’t around, it was me peeking through the lens. Mum was fussy about taking pictures just so.

Five books were piled on the table and we went through them one page at a time. Mum had a story for every snap shot. Some made me laugh so hard that I doubled over.

It was two minutes shy of three when she closed the last album.

“Thanks for staying up. I’ve got the alarm set for six and I know that won’t give us much sleep.” Mum pulled out her hanky, sniffled and hugged me before we turned in. My leaving would to be hard on her.

Willie was snoring away, likely dreaming about cars. I slipped in next to him and pulled away some puffs and huddled under them.

The minute I closed my eyes I started dreaming about my new life. No more freezing to death up north. I was headed for southern sunshine and I saw myself soaking it all in.

Bzzzzzzz. I jumped out of bed, threw on my clothes, grabbed the suitcase and headed for the kitchen. Mum already had breakfast on the stove, so I ran outside to do my business and came back in to grab a hot biscuit and down it with a cup of steaming coffee.

I was half frozen and snow was whipping around me in circles when I headed out on the three-mile walk into town to catch that bus.

I shook flakes big as quarters from my jacket when I climbed the steps of the Greyhound. Two hours and I’d be boarding a plane headed to Fort Jackson. South Carolina was sure the place to be, especially in February.

### end of excerpt

About the author

BAS Author logo stamp 2015Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies (milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).

Bette A. Stevens is the author of award-winning picture book AMAZING MATILDA; home/school resource, The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too!; and PURE TRASH, the short story prequel to DOG BONE SOUP.

Find out more about the author and her books right here on “YOUR AMAZON”

“Passions, Strengths and Self Esteem! The Extensive Guide, Surviving Primary School” by Dr. Orly Katz

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passions(La reseña en Español está en la parte inferior)

I have had the pleasure of reading the work of Dr. Orly Katz before, and we have talked about one of her books on this blog.

Dr. Katz has created two very successful series for young people: “Surviving Junior High” and “Surviving Primary School.”

The areas of expertise of Dr. Katz are leadership, empowerment and self esteem for children and young adults and she coordinates all her efforts through her website located at www.simplymemodel.com

This week we read “Passions, Strengths and Self Esteem!” which is the last book of her Primary School series.

As is the case with her other books, this one also illustrates all the important points with true stories about Dr. Katz and her friends growing up in the 80s. Through the use of stories, Dr. Katz is able to explain her points to her readers and later on, she provides the tools to cope with the explained issues.

On this book, she works on the model of “keys” and she provides three keys to help youngsters:

  • The “key to identification” is designed to help the reader identify where he or she is today; what are the problems and what needs to be done to improve.
  • The “Key to your inner core” helps us identify what are our strengths, our dreams and our passions.
  • Finally, the “Key to action” helps us put everything together and start working to improve our life.

The book is loaded with questionnaires and tools to help children get to know their selves better. I particularly liked the Identification circle exercise.

The issues that Dr. Katz helps with are not exclusive to children and young adults: these are issues that all of us struggle with everyday.

Time and time it has been proved in several different countries and studies that success is not only dependant on knowledge and hard skills. Success depends greatly on our emotional stability and our ability to cope with the issues on our lives, while maintaining a healthy self esteem.

If we can provide these tools to our children today, instead of waiting until they are troubled adults, we will help them achieve their dreams faster.

The books from Dr. Katz are recommended by the Ministry of Education of her own country and, in my opinion, they should be recommended by the Education Departments of all countries.

I highly recommend her books to anyone who has teen or preteen children, even if It seems they are not struggling through school.

If you want to try only one book in the series, I recommend you start with this one, since it is loaded with excellent tools and tips.

You can purchase your copy at Amazon, clicking here.

Our mission is to help English writing authors reach new markets in other languages. If you have an eBook in English we can help you reach the Latino community, translating your work to Spanish. Contact us at http://www.publicatuebook.ca or at joe@publicatuebook.ca

“Passions, Strengths and Self Esteem! The Extensive Guide, Surviving Primary School”  por la  Dra. Orly Katz

passions

Ya he tenido antes el placer de leer el trabajo de la Dra. Orly Katz y ya hemos hablado de uno de sus libros en este blog.

La Dra. Katz ha creado dos exitosas series de libros para gente joven: “Surviving Junior High” y “Surviving Primary School.”

La Dra. Katz es una experta en las áreas de liderazgo, empowerment y auto estima para niños y jóvenes adultos y coordina todos sus esfuerzos a través de su sitio localizado en www.simplymemodel.com

Esta semana leímos “Passions, Strengths and Self Esteem!” el cual es el último libro de su serie de libros para la secundaria.

Igual que sucede en sus otros libros, todos los puntos importantes se ilustran con historias verdaderas de la doctora y sus amigos cuando eran jóvenes y estaban creciendo durante la década de los años ochenta. A través del uso de ejemplos, la Dra. Katz explica su punto de vista a los lectores, y más tarde les da todas las herramientas para superar los problemas expuestos.

En este libro, ella trabaja sobre el modelo de las “llaves” y explica tres llaves para ayudar a los jóvenes:

  • La “Llave de la identificación” está diseñada para ayudar al lector o lectora a identificar dónde se encuentra hoy; cuáles son sus problemas y qué necesita hacer para mejorar.
  • La “Llave del núcleo interno” nos ayuda a identificar cuáles son nuestras fortalezas, nuestros sueños y nuestras pasiones.
  • Finalmente, la “Llave a la acción” nos ayuda a poner todo junto y a empezar a trabajar para mejorar nuestras vidas.

El libro está lleno de cuestionarios y herramientas para ayudar a los niños a conocerse mejor. A mí me gusto especialmente el ejercicio del círculo de la identificación.

Los problemas con los que Dra. Katz nos ayuda no son exclusivos de los niños y los jóvenes: estos son asuntos con los que todos nosotros luchamos todos los días.

Se ha comprobado una y otra vez en diferentes países y estudios que el éxito no depende solamente del conocimiento y de nuestras habilidades técnicas. El éxito depende en gran medida de nuestra estabilidad emocional y nuestra habilidad para manejar los problemas en nuestras vidas, mientras mantenemos una auto estima balanceada.

Si les podemos dar estas herramientas a nuestros hijos hoy, en lugar de esperar a que sean adultos con problemas, les estaremos ayudando a lograr sus sueños más rápidamente.

Los libros de la Dra. Katz son recomendados por el Ministerio de Educación de su país, y en mi opinión, deberían de ser recomendados por los Ministerios de Educación de todos los países.

Recomiendo ampliamente sus libros a cualquier persona que tenga hijos pequeños o adolescentes, aún si no tienen síntomas de estar padeciendo en la escuela.

Si solamente leyeran un libro de la serie, recomiendo empezar con este, ya que está lleno de excelentes herramientas y consejos.

Puedes comprar el libro de la Dra. Katz en Amazon, presionando aquí.

La misión de Publica tu ebook es ayudarte a que tu libro electrónico alcance mayores mercados a través de nuestros servicios de traducción, asesoría, mercadotecnia, edición, diseño gráfico y otros. Búscanos en www.publicatuebook.ca o en joe@publicatuebook.ca