Shaker Days - Hardcover

Terbush, Don

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1420814281 ISBN 13: 9781420814286

Publisher: Authorhouse, 2005

Synopsis

Some people call it "earthquake weather," but during the Great Depression in a suburb just outside of Los Angeles, Joe Hodge knew them as "shaker days." In Joe’s world, such a day foreshadowed more than earthquakes; it meant personal catastrophe was also on the way-after all, Joe’s mother had died on a shaker day. It’s the summer of 1933, and further tragedy, a trio of bullies, first love, and a revealed family secret are about to rock Joe’s world even more. Prepare to be transported to a time when life was hard, Hollywood was glamorous, and a boy discovered the truth. Shaker Days is a riveting tale that will warm your heart long after you’ve reached the end.

About this title

About the Author:

Don Terbush grew up in the historic town of Eureka, California. Don’s passion for writing began at an early age when he observed that his sports editor father was allowed into ballgames without paying for a ticket. Don became the editor of his high school newspaper and later attended the University of California at San Diego, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.

Today, Don enjoys a successful career in television and film. He’s written several screenplays, and his short stories have been published online. This is Don’s first novel, and he is currently working on his second novel. Don lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter and son.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Joe missed his mother a lot. He missed her kindness and her smile. He missed her tucking him in at night and telling him to have nice dreams. He missed her hugs. He knew she had seemed tired, but thought it was from working too much and, probably, not getting enough sleep. She would get up at 6:00 a.m. and prepare breakfast and sack lunches for Joe, Katie, and her husband, George, and then head off to her job as a clerk at St. Joseph’s Hospital. She would leave work at 5:00 p.m., come home and prepare dinner, clean up afterwards, and then come into the living room to sit with the family for an hour or so while they listened to the old radio.

On Saturdays, she would prepare meals, do laundry, mop the floors, and, sometimes, pick up an evening shift at the hospital for some extra money. Sundays meant church in the morning, then home to prepare lunch, and if time and money permitted, she would take Joe and Katie to the Sunday matinee at The Broadway.

This was how she spent nearly every week, and with the exception of sitting in a movie theater for a few hours a month, she rarely took a break. As Joe got older, he began to notice that his mother worked at an exhausting pace. When Joe’s friend, Jackie, or some of Katie’s friends would make comments that their mothers thought Alida Hodge looked tired or thin, Joe just chalked it up to her workload. To him, she looked as beautiful as ever. She was just a young woman of twenty-nine when she passed away in the summer of ‘31.

That day was a shaker day, and she had weakly commented that morning that there was going to be an earthquake sometime soon. As the family huddled by her bed, a weak temblor moved the earth. His mom whispered, "A shaker." She winked at Joe, and an hour later she was gone.

About this edition

• Publisher: Authorhouse
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1420814281
• ISBN 13: 9781420814286
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 324