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.
My Father placed me on the payroll at his coal mine in Pennsylvania in 1951 when I was 9 years old. Whenever I wasn't in grade school, I worked at his coal mine picking & removing rock, operating equipment that pulled the coal out of the mine, and occasionally assisting miners inside the mine. My mining experience ended in 1959 when after graduating from high school, I joined the U.S. Marine Corps. I graduated from engineering college in 1967, and currently continue working as a structural engineer, as I have for the past 57 years. My book is mostly about my boyhood experience at the mine, and the dangerous life of hard-working coal miners. Initial chapters also describe my ancestors immigration from Europe, their marriages that were pre-arranged for them by others, and their hardships supporting their families during The Great Depression. The final chapter describes how my experience continues to inspire me to this day in providing honorable services to my family, country, and business clients.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
Anthracite Boot Camp by Louis Ronald Scatena is the story of the author's father, Pete Scatena, and his mother Caroline, and about anthracite mining along the mountainsides where the coal seams slant upwards. This is also the true story about men struggling in a black underground world and the difficulties and hazards they faced. The memoir is also the author's story of "boot camp" training from the age of nine to seventeen in anthracite mining operations under the guidance of his father. The book chronicles the strife and hardship that prevailed in the anthracite coal fields at a time when immigration was at its peak and gives good insights into the evolution and upbringing of the miners. The story of how the miners fought for their survival underground and the survival of their impoverished families is heartbreaking.
The movie The Molly Maguires is a good one to watch to learn about the hardships of the miners and their families in the vicinity of Hazleton, which is slightly south of Wilkes Barre. Anthracite Boot Camp is straightforward and honest and Louis Ronald Scatena is vocal when it comes to sharing his story with readers by giving them glimpses of his life and the people in his life. The author's story also has its adventurous moments, one such being when he crawled with his father into an abandoned coal mine, and there are other frightening stories and fond memories shared in the memoir. The story ends when the author is 17, in the year 1959 when he left for the US Marine Corps Boot Camp after leaving the anthracite boot camp.
