Review of Single Mom Six Kids & a Piano
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- Helen Akoth
- Book of the Month Participant
- Posts: 338
- Joined: 02 Feb 2022, 02:07
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 66
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-helen-akoth.html
- Latest Review: A Submissive Journey-Second Semester by Richard Read
Review of Single Mom Six Kids & a Piano
Single Mom, Six Kids, & a Piano: The Early Years is a memoir by Paul Wesley La Canfora. The story follows the life of Virginia, the author's mother, as she raised her six children single-handedly after being abandoned by her husband. The story started in 1966. The author, the last born of the family, has just been born. His father decides to separate from his mother, a stay-at-home mom, forcing her to look for ways to fend for her children. As expected, life becomes tough, and most things become luxuries. But through love for her children, sheer determination, and strong faith, Virginia finds the strength to push through life, looking for opportunities to better their circumstances. In this book, the author reflects back and shares his childhood memories about his mother and siblings during those times. I immensely enjoyed reading it.
I liked how the author wrote Single Mom, Six Kids, & a Piano: The Early Years. Although this story involves his family, and he is one of those people it talks about, he gave it the third-person narrative approach. It reads like a novel and a third party's observation of what happened in their lives. This writing approach brought out a sense of objectivity and made me enjoy it more. I also liked that it was chronological, making it easy to follow. At the beginning of some chapters, the author included historical facts that happened in the US, which I found informative. I also liked to read about the various critical decisions Virginia had to make to ensure that her children were housed, clothed, and well-fed. I also found her faith in God and optimism admirable; they seemed to keep her moving. The kids' relatable life of jokes, attention-seeking sibling rivalry, and adventures were also fun to read. The ending was also done well. It leaves readers with the urge to find out more about the author's family, although it is not a cliffhanger. It also showed that there is a part two, a sequel to this. Based on how I enjoyed this, I can't wait to read it too.
My favorite aspect of this book was Virginia's approach to disciplining her children. She seemed to be in control without being controlling. Parents will find reading about how the children responded to her disciplining approach informative. I liked that it worked, and I believe it can also work for other parents. Children can be a handful sometimes, and knowing how to raise them as confident, respectful adults without having a nervous breakdown can be a great tip to add to your parenting arsenal.
Overall, I didn't find anything to dislike about this book. Errors were hard to come by. I found only a few minor ones, making me believe it was professionally edited. Therefore, I am glad to give Single Mom, Six Kids, & a Piano: The Early Years by Paul Wesley La Canfora five out of five stars. This book shows us the level of sacrifice single parents, especially mothers, can make to raise their children, and there are several life lessons to be learned from it.
I highly recommend this book to fans of memoirs full of life lessons. Single parents, especially single mothers, will have much to learn from Virginia's story and find it relatable. And lastly, there are some moments where the book captures Virginia's faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Catholic faith). However, this doesn't make it more suitable to an audience of a particular religion, as it is not specifically a religious book; any reader who likes memoirs will not be affected by this. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading its sequel, Single Mom, Six Kids, & a Piano: The Later Years, to finish this remarkable journey of motherhood sacrifice.
******
Single Mom Six Kids & a Piano
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
- Carina Callegaro
- Posts: 45
- Joined: 13 Jan 2023, 04:28
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 19
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-carina-callegaro.html
- Latest Review: Are You Love Smart or Love Stupid by Dr. Rachel Sims
-
- Posts: 236
- Joined: 01 Apr 2023, 01:41
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 19
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-paul-link.html
- Latest Review: ChatGPT for Entrepreneurs by Steven A. Ridder
-
- Posts: 569
- Joined: 14 Sep 2021, 14:28
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 25
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-edit-or.html
- Latest Review: Always Strive to Be a Better You by Pete Hall
- Hazel Mae Bagarinao
- Posts: 3408
- Joined: 20 Mar 2022, 06:53
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 148
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-hazel-mae-bagarinao.html
- Latest Review: The Sound of Creation by Gabriella Zielke
- Karthigesan Tharmarasu
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 30 Apr 2023, 07:35
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-karthigesan-tharmarasu.html
- Latest Review: The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami