This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
It's often joked about that between the Boomers and the Millennials, there's an entire generation that hates them both. We are Generation X, and in the ranks is author Steven Manchester, an aficionado of all things 1980s, wrapped up in the pages of Bread Bags & Bullies: Surviving the 80s. In a moment of schooling his boys, Manchester unwittingly taps into the words of his father and it triggers a deluge of childhood memories, for better or worse. All of the quintessential elements are in play: a schoolyard bully, a bedroom split with an accordion door, bunk beds and Ghostbusters, fights and flatulence, a mutilated dog and a bloody hitchhiker... Herbie and Cockroach have much to be grateful for in spite of and as a result of an upbringing in the 80s style of parenting.
Steven Manchester has vindicated every parent of today who was raised in the 80s with the book Bread Bags & Bullies. As expected, there are a ton of pop culture references, brands, movies, songs, and all things Americana in the day and age. What makes Manchester's novel so much better is that it is used to enhance the experience of the reader as opposed to just being the abused vehicle that carries the actual story. The writing is clean and tight, the dialogue is authentic. If I'm being totally honest I could have done without multi-paragraph monologues written in italics, but it is forgiven in the context of a good story. This time. I think this book will resonate well with a wide range of readers in the same way that the resurgence of 80s iconography is having its moment in television and film. Overall, this is a fun romp that kept me chuckling at a few prize pieces long after I'd finished it.
