Many Hands Make Light Work - by Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy (Paperback)

About the Book

A rollicking family of nine children, offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother, paint, spackle, and eventually rebuild a dozen tumbledown old houses in their Midwest college town in the 1960s and '70s--and, at odd moments, break into song, because they sing as they work, like a von Trapp family in painters caps.

Book Synopsis

Many Hands Make Light Work is the rollicking true story of a family of nine children growing up in the college town of Ames, Iowa in the '60s and '70s. Inspiring, full of surprises, and laugh-out-loud funny, this utterly unique family champions diversity and inclusion long before such concepts become cultural flashpoints. Cheryl and her siblings are the offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother. Mindful of their ever-expanding family's need for cash, her parents begin acquiring tumbledown houses in campus-town, to renovate and rent. Dad, who changes out of his suit and tie into a carpenter's battered white overalls, like Clark Kent into Superman, is supremely confident his offspring can do anything, whether he's there or not. Mom, an organizational genius disguised as a housewife, manages nine children so deftly that she finds the time--and heart--to take in student boarders, who stir their own offbeat personalities into this unconventional household. The kids, meanwhile, pour concrete, paint houses, and, at odd moments, break into song, because instead of complaining, they sing as they work, like a von Trapp family in painters caps. Free-wheeling and contagiously cheerful, Many Hands Make Light Work is a winsome memoir of a Heartland childhood unlike any other.

Review Quotes

"Part childhood memoir, part parenting manual, and part home-improvement guide, this nostalgic and charming Midwest coming-of-age story makes one yearn for a bygone era. This large and boisterous family, led by a most endearing patriarch, is utterly delightful." --Mary Carlomagno, author of Best Friend for Hire "Try not to be too jealous of a childhood spent with eight siblings, great parents, a Midwestern town that gave kids free-range, and an era that trusted all children to rise to the occasion (even occasions involving real live lions). Anyone who remembers--and longs for--a free-range childhood will love sinking into Many Hands. A gem of a book." --Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow and founder of Free-Range Kids "The 1970s might have been the Me Decade for the rest of the world, but the nine Stritzel kids discover their best and truest selves not as wayward individualists but as a unified team. In the college town of Ames, Iowa, led by their frugal father and hardworking mother, these kids welcome the world with open arms, high spirits, and hard work. Many Hands Make Light Work is the most cheerful childhood memoir you will ever read." --Laura Kalpakian, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient and award-winning author of The Great Pretenders "Written in the tradition of Cheaper by the Dozen and in the spirit of Erma Bombeck, Many Hands Make Light Work is a valentine, pure and simple, to the large, boisterous, old-fashioned family from which the author happily hails." --Madeleine Blais, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of To the New Owners "Many Hands Make Light Work is the laugh-out-loud tale of a regimented yet happy-go-lucky, large Catholic Midwestern family. Masterfully written, this charming, nostalgic story is a blueprint for the modern family, showing how family bonds can steer each of us to our true north." --Colleen Haggerty, finalist for the Indie Excellence Book Award, author of A Leg to Stand On: An Amputee's Walk Into Motherhood

About the Author

Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy and her eight siblings grew up with a paintbrush in their hands and a song in their hearts. As soon as they were old enough to wrench a nail out of ancient lumber--so it could be used again--they were put to work renovating old houses in Ames, Iowa. Cheryl's growing-up years included babysitting for a local family that kept a lion as a pet. A real, adolescent-aged lion. Uncaged. Using a flyswatter to defend herself, she survived the lion, and today is a freelance journalist for The Wall Street Journal as well as the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. The Tribune distributes her articles to newspapers and websites around the country, such as The Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Baltimore Sun, and Orlando Sentinel. Her previous book, USA to the UK: The Easy Way, a lighthearted look at moving overseas, was published by British Petroleum's London headquarters for an international readership. McCarthy holds an MBA from City University in London and a bachelor's in journalism from Iowa State University. She lives with her husband in Bellingham, Washington.