The Ditchdigger's Daughters
A Black Family's Astonishing Success Story
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The Ditchdigger's Daughters
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Narrated by:
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Fran L. Washington
About this listen
Donald decided to do the grandest thing he could think of: force them to make a success of their lives. Along with their mother, Tass, he cajoled and inspired the girls to succeed while working two full-time jobs to keep them properly fed and clothed. All six became successful, independent, accomplished women: two of his six daughters became doctors, one became a dentist, one a lawyer, one a nurse, and one a court stenographer.
The Ditchdigger's Daughters is the inspirational story of a family with a strong role model who set family values above all else. Donald's persuasive common sense, folk wisdom, and right-on insights gave them the skills they would need to overcome obstacles in their paths to success.
©2008 Yvonne S. Thornton (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love and connection permeates through this book!
- By Steve Steinmetz on 06-29-18
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Charms for the Easy Life
- By: Kaye Gibbons
- Narrated by: Kate Fleming
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human misery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solid, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats everything from boils to broken bones to broken hearts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So Lovely!
- By Doodle slave on 01-04-17
By: Kaye Gibbons
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Jack of Diamonds
- By: Bryce Courtenay
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 26 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,393
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,225
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,219
Born and raised in a poor, working-class family in Toronto, Jack Spayd is the son of an unhappy marriage. After being taken under the wing of "Miss Frostbite", the owner of a local jazz club, Jack becomes a gifted musician, playing piano and harmonica. Fame and the allure of gambling takes him to Vegas, and prospects of fortune take him to the Belgian Congo, where he's heard it's possible to earn big money working in the most dangerous parts of the local copper mines.
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4 out of 5 stars
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On the Day we lost Bryce
- By Brodie on 11-23-12
By: Bryce Courtenay
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One Call Away
- Answering Life's Challenges with Unshakable Faith
- By: Brenda Warner, Jennifer Schuchmann
- Narrated by: Christie King
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
What can you do when your well-laid plans fall apart and life takes an unexpected turn? Brenda Warner is best known as the outspoken wife of NFL superstar and Dancing with the Stars alum Kurt Warner. But years earlier, she found herself living through any woman’s nightmare: a healthy baby tragically injured in the bathtub; a sudden end to a career she loved; betrayal and divorce; poverty; public humiliation; a deadly natural disaster that destroyed her foundation and shook her to her core. One shattering phone call at a time, Brenda Warner’s life came to resemble little of her dream.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Page turner and worth a thousand credits !
- By Marian on 10-27-14
By: Brenda Warner, and others
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Vegas Rich
- Vegas, Book 1
- By: Fern Michaels
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 268
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 194
With a heart full of dreams, Sallie Coleman leaves Texas and heads west determined to get as far from the squalor of her dirt poor beginnings. With its shifting sands, smoky saloons, and bingo palaces, Las Vegas seems like a paradise. A paradise where an extraordinary twist of fate makes Sallie the most powerful businesswoman in Nevada.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Get this booK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 09-26-10
By: Fern Michaels
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Liberating Paris
- A Novel
- By: Linda Bloodworth Thomason
- Narrated by: Cynthia Darlow
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Woodrow McIlmore, the town's golden boy and local gynecologist, is married to his beautiful high school sweetheart, Milan, and seems by all appearances to be leading the perfect life with his two children and extended family and friends. But when Wood's daughter announces that she is smitten with a college classmate and intends to marry him, her parents are stunned.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Deeply moving, a great listen
- By Cynthia on 11-27-05
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If It Ain’t One Thing
- By: Cheryl Robinson
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 133
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Cheryl Robinson, a bright voice in African-American fiction, delivers a fresh tale of love in the modern world. Porter is a handsome Detroit firefighter who just got burned by his cheating girlfriend. Winona is a single mom who is getting by despite an old secret that haunts her. When Porter and Winona meet, they must face their pasts to allow their present romance to grow.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good listen
- By Brad on 06-29-10
By: Cheryl Robinson
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The Turner House
- By: Angela Flournoy
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 665
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 595
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Story4 out of 5 stars 597
The Turners have lived on Yarrow Street for over 50 years. Their house has seen 13 children grown and gone - and some returned; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit's East Side, and the loss of a father. The house still stands despite abandoned lots, an embattled city, and the inevitable shift outward to the suburbs. But now, as ailing matriarch Viola finds herself forced to leave her home and move in with her eldest son, the family discovers that the house is worth just a 10th of its mortgage.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The narrator's performance made the difference.
- By KT on 06-11-15
By: Angela Flournoy
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Peyton Place
- By: Grace Metalious
- Narrated by: Tim O'Connor
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 311
In 1956, when this novel was first published, communities all over New England snapped up copies to see if they were the town portrayed in the book. Peyton Place is the story of a repressive New England town known for its high standards of public morality, and the steamy sexual activities that take place behind its bedroom doors.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best book I've read to date!
- By Crusader on 11-07-11
By: Grace Metalious
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The Pact
- Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream
- By: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Narrated by: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 213
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
All too often, we hear about the dangers of male friendships in which peer pressure prevails over common sense. But for George Jenkins, Sampson Davis, and Rameck Hunt, strong and supportive male friendship was a powerful antidote to the temptations and pitfalls of street life. It led three boys to make a vow to be there for one another, to encourage one another every step of the way, until they overcame the odds and became doctors.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very Inspirational
- By Heather on 04-10-09
By: Drs. Sampson Davis, and others
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My Lobotomy
- A Memoir
- By: Howard Dully, Charles Fleming
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 333
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 217
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 217
"In 1960 I was given a transorbital, or 'ice pick' lobotomy. My stepmother arranged it. My father agreed to it. Dr. Walter Freeman, the father of the American lobotomy, told me he was going to do some 'tests'. It took 10 minutes and cost 200 dollars." Assisted by journalist/novelist Charles Fleming, Howard Dully recounts a family tragedy of Sophoclean proportions.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Freeman's Folly
- By James Gordon on 10-28-07
By: Howard Dully, and others
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Indignation
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 415
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 367
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Story4 out of 5 stars 367
In 1951, the second year of the Korean War, a studious, law-abiding, and intense youngster from Newark, New Jersey, Marcus Messner, begins his sophomore year on the pastoral, conservative campus of Ohio's Winesburg College. And why is he there and not at a local college in Newark where he originally enrolled? Because his father, the sturdy, hardworking neighborhood butcher, seems to have gone mad - mad with fear and apprehension of the dangers of adult life, the dangers of the world, the dangers he sees on every corner for his beloved boy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Tight, beautiful and also strange and sad.
- By Darwin8u on 08-22-16
By: Philip Roth
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The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 13,854
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,251
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Story5 out of 5 stars 12,193
From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superior non-fiction
- By Lila on 05-20-11
By: Isabel Wilkerson
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In the Country We Love
- My Family Divided
- By: Diane Guerrero, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Diane Guerrero
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,300
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,015
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,004
Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just 14 years old on the day her parents were detained and deported while she was at school. Born in the US, Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Moves very slowly
- By Laura S. on 07-23-16
By: Diane Guerrero, and others
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Sittin' in the Front Pew
- By: Parry Brown
- Narrated by: Patricia R Floyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
This spirited tale of love, family, and honoring loved ones is filled with sharp insights. As four sisters prepare for their father's funeral, they examine what he meant to them. But they are all thrown off balance when they discover the secret their father carried to his grave.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Amateur, at best
- By N. Hall on 11-18-06
By: Parry Brown
What listeners say about The Ditchdigger's Daughters
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jola
- 01-30-17
Wonderful
If you could sum up The Ditchdigger's Daughters in three words, what would they be?
This book made me laugh and cry! The author didn't portray her family and life through rose colored glasses. There were good and bad times but perseverance prevails. The parents showed their girls by example to never give up and family is important. I've recommended this book to many friends and patients.
What did you like best about this story?
Never giving up, finding a way to achieve your goals.
What about Fran L. Washington’s performance did you like?
Excellant
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Both. As a mother and a daughter I felt both sides of their trials.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Freda
- 05-17-24
Great read
Inspiring and heartwarming. These are the stories we need more of. Thank you Dr Thornton!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. M
- 11-01-17
Inspirational!
This story was great. Such an inspiring tale of man who made a way for his children out of nothing more then sheer determination!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cynthia
- 01-03-22
Excellent book!
This wonderful uplifting true story of grit, resilience, and looking at what you have been given in life in a different way, is full of truths and inspiration.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Deb Jackson
- 01-02-24
Donald Thorton
This book was so inspiring. More men should read and appreciate the example that this man was,
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joshua P. Collins
- 07-19-19
Well written, well read.
Mr. Thornton's efforts to raise his girls showed how much he loved his family. This comes through in the writing of hi daughter, and it is clear the impact that his truisms had on them all.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Margaret Borkon
- 02-23-09
Wonderful story of achievement
Not the best reader, but the story of the Thornton family was very inspiring.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DARLIN DARLIN
- 04-29-21
Should be REQUIRED reading in JRH,HS & college
Loved EVERYTHING about this book‼️
I am the mother of 4 , 3 successful & happy Adult daughters. So, so, so much I Admire about these parents and each family member.
Thank you for sharing your story Yvonne‼️
100% relevant in 2021‼️
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LiveLifeYoung
- 08-14-18
Loved it!
Great listen while traveling couldn't put it down, finished in one session, narrator was an easy listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 01-15-19
From seemingly insignificant to inspiring.
Salute Mr. Thornton... salute. Loved it. Touching and inspiring... truly.
The Underdog can obviously claw it's way to Top Dog status, if given even an unfair opportunity to stay in the fight. There are some many contemporary lessons for success in this book, providing that we are still open to learning. But sometimes we are just too smart for our own good. There is no better sense than uncommon sense.
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