Uncommon Favor by Dawn Staley

Uncommon Favor: Basketball, North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars 

Pages: 256 pages
Published: May 2025

Dawn Staley, a former basketball player, Olympian, and current head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team, released her first book, Uncommon Favor this spring. In it she uses her experiences and insights to detail 13 life lessons she’s curated from her time as a professional athlete, a life as a Philadelphian, and her mother’s rearing of her. Each chapter is centered around a particular theme or lesson that has influenced her life and career, and she uses examples from her life to illustrate her points. 

Overall, Staley emphasizes the importance of hard work, determination, resilience, and the support of mentors and family. She recounts specific challenges and struggles and how she’s overcome them. Her stories are not presented in a chronological fashion, and she often uses some of the same situations to highlight multiple lessons. Getting a behind the scene peek into some of her public events, like holding the U.S. flag at the 2004 Olympic opening ceremonies, was insightful.  

I enjoyed her stories, but I didn’t always appreciate the delivery. I think Staley could have benefited from some further editing. The biggest challenge I had as a reader had to do with my expectations. I went into the book thinking it would be more of a memoir, but Staley didn’t really share a lot of personal details. Much of what was shared was more factual in nature and could have easily been discovered online. To be fair, she states multiple times that she is a private person, so I suspect that is why a lot of her opinions and depictions were surface level. But on the other hand, if you enjoy your privacy, why write a biographical book? Having said that, I do feel like she began to open up a little more in the final third of the book. 

Recommendation: I respect what the author has attempted and appreciate her attempt at vulnerability, but the book left me wanting more. When I have read other stories like this, I almost feel like I’ve become friends with the author as I’ve gotten to know them through their work. Uncommon Favor told me basic things about the author and her life but not necessarily the why or what resulted from those happenings. Maybe Staley will write another book post-career where she can divulge a little more.  

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

Read More

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Pages: 400 pages
Published: May 2019

I must say I picked a good first book to complete in 2020. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo is as young adult novel that centers around Emoni who is a teenage mom living with her abuela (grandmother). She is a naturally talented chef and as she approaches the end of her senior year in high school, she's at a crossroads in deciding what the future holds for her.

This story was so real - the content, the language, the emotion. The author did an excellent job of illustrating real world scenarios in a relatable way. She did not take shortcuts or rely on stereotypes or tropes with any of the characters. I appreciated that the story featured a young woman of color but it wasn't necessarily a "Black book" or a "Latina book." The main character could have been any ethnicity, and I enjoy books positioned like that the best. It was a bit of a coming of age novel, not in that it covered an extended period of time but because of the growth the main character experienced. There wasn't an explicit physical challenge for Emoni to overcome but rather an internal conflict to resolve.

While this contemporary book is categorized as young adult fiction, I don't feel it's limited to that demographic. The book has a wide range of appeal, and the writing is solid. I found myself wondering about Emoni's future long after my library loan was over. If selecting this book for your pre-teen or teenager, make sure they are mature enough to handle the content. There are topics of teen pregnancy, and the author uses curse words, albeit in an effect manner. (I'd rate the book PG-13.) Having said that, the topic is surely to make teens consider what being sexually active means and what consequences can come with that.

Recommendation:  I highly recommend this book. It is always available on Hoopla. If you have access to that service, why don't you download an electronic copy today?

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

Read More