Customer Reviews

Orphans' Nine Commandments

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The Orphans' Nine Commandments by William Roger Holman. Mr. Holman was brave to share this very personal and I'm sure emotionally and physically painful childhood with the reader. It is written with such attention to detail that the reader feels as if he is going through young Holman's life with him. The book moved me greatly to the extent of tears on more that one occasion. This is one chapter of American history which is not found in the school text books. Thank you William Roger Holman for sharing your journey with us.

Reading Bill Holman's book brought me great personal pleasure. I am an Oklahoman who also lived in Drumright and Oklahoma City. As he described places and events in both cities, the sights and sounds became alive and I traveled with him on his journey as a young boy trying to survive in a world that he did not choose. He enjoyed great adventures and endured times of great sadness. His story makes you feel every emotion imaginable as he grows up from that child that was abandoned by his mother to the young man that he becomes. This book is an easy read that keeps the reader engaged. It made me laugh and made me cry. What more could you want?

Upfront alert: this commentator watched this book grow from original Ms. to finished publication--a rare treat that works on several levels--as a literary success, a sociological record of orphanage life in 1930s Oklahoma, and the quest for a mother and father whose trails have been carefully hidden. These are no "princes of Oklahoma," but children who struggle for food and affection, who steal their own Christmas tree, play in a cast-off coffin, assist the town madam bury her pet dog, with a boy who fights a system that markets in orphans and who uses Juicy Fruit gum to prove his worth. As readable as a colorful novel, this (as Larry McMurtry says) is an important book, the story of a small boy who overcomes five different names, a succession of "homes," and all his bad angels to achieve national success and solve at least a part of his quest. A truly unforgettable story.

The story of a man coming of age under extraordinary circumstances "The Orphans' Nine Commandments" is fascinating, engrossing, well written, and touching. Roger Bechan, the main character, is awesome in that he endured enough depivations, humiliations, heartaches, shocks, and disappointments to swamp a less sturdy person, yet he nourished his gift of spirit through it all managing to find joy, humor, grace, and success. Although his early life held few admirable role models he manages to arrive where he could now well serve to be one. It is good to see a memoir documented with court records, adoption papers, and an "Indenture Contract" under which Roger Bechan was released from the "West Oklahoma Home for White Children" in 1937. A Dickens like story but this is real life. I couldn't put the book down. Betty Ann Altman

Once I began reading I couldn't put young Will out of my mind. I put everything else aside until I learned the fate of this boy whose name changed as he was yanked from one home to another. William Holman tells his story with the clipped speech of Oklahoma, bringing to life the stark years of the 1930's and the incredible story of a bewildered and obstinate child.

Taken by his mother when he was six years old to an orphanage and dropped off without warning never to see or hear from her again, William Holman brings the 1930's depression era in Oklahoma to vivid life. His descriptions of the hard times as well as the simple pleasures of growing up in that time and place without a family that he longs for are poignant, spirited and funny. The situations and characters who influence his life through the years will infuriate as well as warm your heart. Despite his rough beginnings the boy succeeds in life eventually becoming the director of the San Francisco Libraries. He marries a wonderful woman and creates a family of two sons. While he never sees his mother again, he does discover who his father was and meets his half siblings. Holman's story has a fine ending but its his journey that makes it so good.

An outstanding glimpse into a life that should have been much different considering its beginnings. This book will make you laugh, make you cry, and cause you to thank your lucky stars. Hard to put down until reaching that last page.

"The Orphans' Nine Commandments" by William Holman reflects a spirit so strong and knowing that everyone reading it will be inspired by the grace and honesty shared. Not only those outside of the adoption circle but everyone who was ever a child will respond to the quality of this book. Compassion is one of the most human abilities. May this wonderful book plant seeds of compassion in all who read it.

Touched by Adoption

The Orphans' Nine Commandments is a wonderful book. My daughter took a

copy to her son's sophomore English teacher asking her to share Roger

Bechan's odyssey with her students. She thinks it would encourage kids

who have a rough start . . . to persevere . . . and become successful.

Perhaps then other English teachers in the U.S., and perhaps the world,

will put it on their recommended reading list. That is how important

I think this book will become.

Mrs. Elaine Blackstock. Clearwater, Fla

I ordered this book and it came in the mail pronto! Very happy with the transaction and the book, too!