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....Shawn Daniels's father is the town drunk. Shawn and his brother Willie are in charge of handling everything that needs to be done around the ramshackle place they call home-lugging in water for cooking and cleaning, splitting and stacking firewood...But when chores are done, these resourceful kids strike out on boundless adventures that don't cost a dime. DOG BONE SOUP is the poignant tale of a dysfunctional family struggling to survive in America in the 50s and 60s, when others were living The American Dream. 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.