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5 Minutes for Books — The Middle Place

March 24, 2008 by Jennifer Donovan

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

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Kelly Corrigan is a mom of two preschoolers. She’s a mom, but she’s also still very much a daughter. She is in The Middle Place. Kelly tells her story by looking back at the role her parents have had in her life, mostly in adolescence and young adulthood. It’s not so much about her specific experiences, but how growing up in her particular family has made her who she is.

So who is she? She’s strong, confident, the life of the party, a mom who might occasionally undertake a big paper mache project, but who is also too-often tied to the computer. But more than anything, she is George “Greenie” Corrigan’s daughter. This book is as much about how a daughter perceives her doting dad as it is about Kelly .

When Kelly is diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30’s, her friends and family rally around her. She is absurdly upbeat when sending out mass e-mails about her condition, not knowing how else to tackle this problem. Her honesty about her experiences with her breast cancer is instructive–chronicling both the emotional and physical changes and hurts she’s experiencing, in a matter-of-fact way.middle-place.jpg

(Kelly has since started a website, Circus of Cancer.org, which serves to guide people in helping a friend through breast cancer. Her photo journal of the entire process is a window into what the patient is feeling and can help those of us on the outside better understand what our friend is or will be going through.)

Reading her story will make you appreciate the family you had, and perhaps make you long for that family that you didn’t have. I laughed aloud, I examined my past and my present, and I hoped right along with her that everything would be okay–for her and for the father who she loves so much.

You can read an excerpt of the book HERE, and see the book club questions HERE.

I have four copies of The Middle Place to give away. If you’d like to win, please leave a comment. I will announce the winners in next week’s column.

The winners of Red Dragon Codex are

#2 Alicia
#8 Bebemiqui

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About Jennifer Donovan

Jennifer Donovan has been a part of the 5 Minutes for Mom team since 2007. She writes product reviews, covers events, and manages the 5 Minutes for Books weekly column and website. She lives in Houston and blogs at Snapshot about life with her family.

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51 Comments

  1. BlapherMJ says

    March 30, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    Wow – this looks like a very interesting book. I lost my father in my mid-twenties and am now (20 years later) able to see how it affected me and my siblings. Please enter me. Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Brooke says

    March 30, 2008 at 10:03 am

    I need to feel inspired. Please pick me.

    Reply
  3. ExtraordinaryMommy says

    March 26, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    I just put this book on my ‘must-read’ list a few weeks ago! I’d love a copy. Count me in.

    Reply
  4. Heather says

    March 25, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    I heard about this book on another blog and thought it sounded interesting…

    Reply
  5. Dianna says

    March 25, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    Sounds like an interesting book. I lost my mom and dad at an early age, so never experienced “the middle place.” I often wonder about that…

    Reply
  6. Donna says

    March 25, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    Sounds like a great read! I’d love a copy!

    Reply
  7. Ellie says

    March 25, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    I’d love to read this book!

    Reply
  8. Jean Johnson says

    March 25, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Reading this for our April Book Club. Can’t wait.

    Reply
  9. Vickie says

    March 25, 2008 at 10:06 am

    Please enter me. I would like to read this book.

    Reply
  10. Ivan Girl - Dear Me says

    March 25, 2008 at 7:55 am

    such a very inspiring book about daughter and father, about having a family and it’s different when you look back through your growing years with them. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Jennifer M. says

    March 25, 2008 at 6:27 am

    I’ve been wanting to read this book! The author also has a great parenting video blog called “Half Full: Raising Happy Children.”

    Reply
  12. Ann says

    March 25, 2008 at 3:01 am

    Sounds like a great book. I would love to win this one so I can share this with my friends!

    Reply
  13. Kelly Corrigan says

    March 24, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    Hey Jennifer,

    Thanks so much for sharing my book with people. I hope you all like it. It’s really about what it means to be a grown up. I sort of came to feel that true adulthood comes when we face mortality, especially our parents’.

    Anyway, I hope the winners give the book a good home and all that…

    Kelly

    Kelly Corrigan
    The Middle Place
    http://www.kellycorrigan.com

    Reply
  14. Leah says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    This book sounds great….I’d love a copy! Thanks for the chance…

    Reply
  15. kirsten says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:30 pm

    Looks like a great book..I’d love a copy!

    Reply
  16. Belinda says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    This sounds like a great book. I’d love to read it.
    Thanks for the great giveaway!

    Reply
  17. denise says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    I saw this author on the “Real Simple” TV show. She seems like a great person! I too was in the middle place. I’d love to read her book! Thanks!

    Reply
  18. Bree says

    March 24, 2008 at 8:42 pm

    This book looks great! I’d love to win it!

    Reply
  19. Morning Rose says

    March 24, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    Sounds like a good book. I just finished reading Deanna Favre’s book on her fight with breast cancer.

    Reply
  20. Jill says

    March 24, 2008 at 8:17 pm

    oh, I would love this. It looks great.

    Reply
  21. Debbie MacLeod says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    What an interesting book – I would love to read a copy!

    Reply
  22. Shelly says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    This book sounds great!

    Reply
  23. Jen says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    I would LOVE to read this book!

    Reply
  24. Cindi says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Happy Monday! I have read many interviews with this author and reviews on this book. It sounds delightful. My sister is the middle child and I would love to win a copy and gift it to her. Please enter me in your drawing. Thanks very much…..Cindi

    Reply
  25. brooke says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:10 pm

    Hi, I love your site and would love to win this book
    [email protected]

    Reply
  26. Charlotte says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    I’d love to win a copy of this.

    Reply
  27. Mary says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    Great giveaway, thanks!

    Reply
  28. JenO says

    March 24, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    This would be great! At my small middle school I work at we’ve had no less than three cases of breast cancer in our staff. This book would help me know how to better support them.

    nifferjeno at gmail dot com

    Reply
  29. Jennifer Barr says

    March 24, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    i’d love to read this 🙂

    Reply
  30. Noreen says

    March 24, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    I have been wanting to read this book

    Reply
  31. Marcia says

    March 24, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I’d love to have a copy of this!

    Reply
  32. jeanine says

    March 24, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    i am new to the site and found this when i was browsing around. i love to read so this is perfect for me! i’m so glad i found you!

    Reply
  33. Lindsie says

    March 24, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    I would love to read this book!

    Reply
  34. Tara says

    March 24, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    I’d like to win!

    Reply
  35. stampedwithgrace says

    March 24, 2008 at 2:05 pm

    I’d love to win, please enter me, thanks!

    Reply
  36. Nicol says

    March 24, 2008 at 1:18 pm

    I am in need of a good book!

    Reply
  37. Michele says

    March 24, 2008 at 11:55 am

    I would love to read this…please enter me!

    Reply
  38. Heatheraynne says

    March 24, 2008 at 11:31 am

    Sounds like a wonderful, inspiring story. I would love to read it and pass it on to my mom who battled a rare form of breast cancer that they were lucky to catch.

    Reply
  39. Heidi says

    March 24, 2008 at 10:40 am

    Sounds like a great book! I would love to read it!

    Reply
  40. Perky says

    March 24, 2008 at 10:27 am

    Count me in.

    Reply
  41. Annie says

    March 24, 2008 at 10:26 am

    I’ve been wanting to read this, and would love to win my own copy.

    Reply
  42. Valerie says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:50 am

    I would love to win a copy! Thanks.

    Reply
  43. Amber Stevens says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:47 am

    Would love a chance to win this seemingly super inspirational book!

    Reply
  44. Meg says

    March 24, 2008 at 9:12 am

    Sounds like a wonderful read. Please count me in!

    Reply
  45. SJ says

    March 24, 2008 at 8:51 am

    I’d love to read this!

    Reply
  46. Bahama Mama says

    March 24, 2008 at 8:35 am

    I’d like to win. I have a US address to ship to.

    Reply
  47. Maria says

    March 24, 2008 at 7:30 am

    That would be an awesome tool for many women – myself included, who just found out my SIL is fighting the big C for a SECOND time in her life at age 41.

    Reply
  48. Natalie says

    March 24, 2008 at 1:12 am

    I’d love a copy! 🙂

    Reply
  49. Diana says

    March 24, 2008 at 12:34 am

    I love your site! About the book, what an awesome tool for friends and family of a breast cancer fighting loved one. Since 2005 six women in my life have been diagnosed with breast cancer and so far 4 have survived woo hoo. Sadly I lost 2 of those six to this disease, one being my own mom. 14 years ago this disease took my husband’s mom as well. Please choose women to win this book who are trying to know what to do or what to say to help their friends and family as they go through this fight of their lives.

    Diana

    Reply

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