Mrs. Gertrude Leigh dies from a tubal pregnancy leaving her husband Fred to raise their
children, ranging from high school
age to two years old. The widower gets plenty of offers from relatives and members of their small town community of Leesville, Tennessee to help him raise the
children but ultimately he decides that whatever the cost he will not separate the children and together as a family they will survive. Hot Dogs on Saturday reads like the memories of the author. This realistic feeling is probably because he lost his own
mother at a very young age. Thus, part of this experience is actually portrayed in the book (if not in the actual incidents that occur but in the deeply ingrained feelings illustrated throughout). For a book which tackles the after effects of the death of a mother, I felt this story was quite short (82 pages). Fortunately, there is a “to be continued” at the end of this work so the author definitely has more to tell about this story.