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Breakaway: Beyond the Goal
Get inspired to be your best—in sports and in life—with this uplifting memoir from star soccer player and Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan that includes eight pages of full-color photos!As a talented and successful female athlete, Alex Morgan is a role model to thousands of girls who want to be their best, not just in soccer, but in other sports and in life. The story of her path to success, from playing in the 2011 Women’s World Cup, to winning gold in the 2012 London Olympics, to ranking as one of the National Team’s top scorers, will inspire everyone who reads it.From her beginnings with the American Youth Soccer Organization to her key role in the 2015 Women’s World Cup, Alex shares the details that made her who she is a fantastic role model and athlete who proudly rocks a pink headband.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2015
157 people are currently reading
882 people want to read
About the author
Alex Morgan
19 books108 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. This is for Alex[3spaces]Morgan.
(3)American Soccer Player
An American Soccer Player (Forward/Striker) and an Olympic Medalist. Drafted first in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. And now plays with the Portland Thorns FC.
(3)American Soccer Player
An American Soccer Player (Forward/Striker) and an Olympic Medalist. Drafted first in the 2011 WPS Draft by the Western New York Flash. And now plays with the Portland Thorns FC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
February 6, 2017
I really liked this book. usually I don't like biographies because they are boring but I liked this one more because it has to do with sports.
May 23, 2019
Breakaway: Beyond the Goal is about Olympic Gold Medalist Alex Morgan, and her soccer life story and how she overcame injuries and defeats. This book is made for children of the age of 7 or 8 because of the overall tones and the "This reminds me of this time when..." Where a kid wouldn't be too bothered while reading I cringed. I did not have fun reading this book, the messages in it were good and they had good meaning but, how they were introduced didn't flow correctly. Quick read but I wish I listened to Mrs. Morgan.
April 18, 2018
It was super inspirational! I recommend it!
July 11, 2016
Football is one of my biggest passions...which is why I was beyond shocked when I found out Alex Morgan's memoir was about to come out and I had no idea! In case you don't know, I've been following the USWNT since I was a child. Football was kind of taboo for women when I was younger so I got very attached to the women's team as a way to be like "See? Women are into sports! And they're amazing! Football is not just for boys!"
But anyway, back to Morgan.
Since we're roughly the same age (I'm a year older), I've seen every stage of Alex Morgan's career. I think one of the reasons I'm such a big fan is because I've been able to see her grow into the fantastic player she is today. I remember seeing her explode on the field as a sub and thinking that she was going to be huge one day. I love it when I'm right.
In this book, Morgan takes you on a tour of her very short but thrilling life. In a way, the writing style is very chatty so you feel like you're catching up with a friend. This works really well since this book is aimed at a younger audience. Even though I am familiar with her career, this book provides a fantastic behind-the-scenes look. Morgan also gives the reader a lot of basic but good advice. I took away a lot from this book and I felt very inspired to become a better version of myself.
The release of this book is perfectly timed to coincide with a huge event. Starting June 6, the USWNT are competing in Canada in the hopes of winning the World Cup. You better believe I'll be watching every minute of it.
If you like sports or if you want to support a female athlete, pick up this book! Since Alex mentioned (in great detail) the Olympic match versus Canada, I'm going to spend all afternoon looking for that exhilarating game because:
Enough said.
But anyway, back to Morgan.
Since we're roughly the same age (I'm a year older), I've seen every stage of Alex Morgan's career. I think one of the reasons I'm such a big fan is because I've been able to see her grow into the fantastic player she is today. I remember seeing her explode on the field as a sub and thinking that she was going to be huge one day. I love it when I'm right.
In this book, Morgan takes you on a tour of her very short but thrilling life. In a way, the writing style is very chatty so you feel like you're catching up with a friend. This works really well since this book is aimed at a younger audience. Even though I am familiar with her career, this book provides a fantastic behind-the-scenes look. Morgan also gives the reader a lot of basic but good advice. I took away a lot from this book and I felt very inspired to become a better version of myself.
The release of this book is perfectly timed to coincide with a huge event. Starting June 6, the USWNT are competing in Canada in the hopes of winning the World Cup. You better believe I'll be watching every minute of it.
If you like sports or if you want to support a female athlete, pick up this book! Since Alex mentioned (in great detail) the Olympic match versus Canada, I'm going to spend all afternoon looking for that exhilarating game because:
Enough said.
July 7, 2020
It's so good! Tells about her life and dreams and goals! She is my favorite soccer player!
February 3, 2016
Alex Morgan her Breakaway beyond the goal. Alex Morgan; living her life long dream, playing professional soccer for the woman nation team. She inspires many young athletes including me. This wonderful book, makes you believe you can accomplish anything you want. She wrote this book about her inspirational/ determined life. She set many goals for herself...
- Play with the Woman's National Team, done.
- Score a goal in the World Cup, done.
- Lead the US to an Olympic gold metal, done.
She said " She has been setting big goals for herself and trying hard to achieve them."
Her book starts off as her childhood, living California in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Then starts to get in her teenage years, where she plays with the national team and gets injured, after she talks about her comeback; working to get better. Finally her life on the national team.
- Play with the Woman's National Team, done.
- Score a goal in the World Cup, done.
- Lead the US to an Olympic gold metal, done.
She said " She has been setting big goals for herself and trying hard to achieve them."
Her book starts off as her childhood, living California in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Then starts to get in her teenage years, where she plays with the national team and gets injured, after she talks about her comeback; working to get better. Finally her life on the national team.
March 31, 2020
Honestly this is one of a my favorite books. I loved it so much because it has a lot inspirational thoughts for a Athlete. Alex talked about her life and what she learned from her experience as growing up. Like her world cup experience and her favorite memories. She gives her advice and what young Athletes can do to make them better than they are. It was a very good book and I learned a lot from it. Alex Morgan is one of my favorite role models in my life as an Athlete.
November 5, 2018
This book really helps motivating me to practice everyday to become really skilled in soccer so one day I can turn out like Alex! I really enjoyed the journey in this book and being able to look at her point of view on things!
August 7, 2016
Alex Morgan is the reason I love soccer. She has the determination strength and skills that it takes to be a player. Loved this sooooo much!!!!!!!!
September 23, 2016
“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we always win out.”, said Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States. Alex Morgan had already decided she would do anything to become a professional soccer player by the time she was eight years old. In her autobiography, Breakaway: Beyond The Goal, she describes the setbacks and successes she has faced since the day she determined she would one day be a part of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT).
In writing this book, Morgan hoped she would be able to assist people by helping them set objectives for themselves to make each day better than the one before. She also wanted to show a different side of her story. Today, most people know her as a phenomenal soccer player who had an early impact on the national team and continues to, on and off the field. However, this book shared inside information on how incredibly hard she worked to achieve her goals and how her determination took her thus far. Every chapter narrates a moment in her life that defines who she currently is, which is then summarized at the end of each one. For instance, in Chapter 51, her advice to readers was to face sudden change with courage. She explained how discussing her feelings openly with her teammates allowed her to better control her bravery and remain focused on her goals. This specific moment refers to the event during which the coach of the 2014 USWNT, Tom Sermanni, was fired during the 2014 Algarve Cup. I think her suggestions to living life to the fullest were sincere and relevant to various situations, therefore achieving her purpose of helping others feel related and unalone towards common issues.
Morgan’s honesty also helped her accomplish her goal of inspiring others to create their own journeys and turning their dreams into realities. She told her stories as they were, even if they didn’t make her look good. For example, while she was playing for her university, Cal, she wrote, “You turned your back on us once. We can and will turn our backs on you for good. You are not welcome back.” on Twitter about the staff in response to an unexpected catastrophe. She admitted that her tweet was published in the school newspaper and was later humiliated by her actions. Due to her casual and sincere style of writing, I felt as though she were talking to me through the book. While many times I thought her approach to telling her story was serious, most of the time I thought it was told in an almost humorous manner.
Being the youngest daughter of three in her family, Morgan grew up in a competitive environment where she longed to prove to everyone she could do everything just as well--if not better-- than her sisters could. She unleashed her fiery spirit in sports, including volleyball, softball, basketball, and most importantly, soccer. Morgan played recreational (rec) soccer until she was 11 years old, which meant she was off to a very late start in joining a club team. Therefore, in her first attempt to be admitted into a squad, she was not only rejected, but horrified and shocked. Although her speed was phenomenal and incredibly impressive, she lacked the skill required to play at a higher level. She worked extremely hard to make her way up back to the top. After having looked into several different clubs over the years, she finally found a club when she was sixteen, Cypress, where she was content and challenged. Six months after having trained with Cypress, the Cal South Olympic Development Program sighted her. Things got even more serious when she was recruited for the U-17 national team, and eventually USWNT.
Although I enjoyed reading about Morgan’s triumphs, my favorite parts of the book tended to be during her moments setbacks, because they taught me that even the best athletes in the world make mistakes. A specific game she had found utterly heartbreaking was a game Cal lost to Cal Poly in overtime. She and her teammates were devastated and crushed, because according to the statistics, the match was supposed to be an easy win, and Cal dramatically dropped in the rankings. Everyone was disappointed, and their coach ended up dropping everything and quitting a week later (this was the event she reacted to in the Tweet previously mentioned). Morgan obviously did not handle the situation professionally, but it was obvious she regretted what she had said. That’s the thing with celebrities. They are expected to be perfect and make no errors due to their high status in society. Reading about Morgan’s hindrances were interesting, partly due to the fact she was completely truthful, and partly because she proved that it is normal to have bad days, even when you’re famous. In more than one way, her negative experiences taught me that remaining positive helps keep your head clear when setting objectives and work towards them.
One of the least entertaining areas of the book occurred towards the end, during which Morgan outlined her recent and present life on the USWNT. She mostly discussed some of the most important games USWNT has played since she became a part of the roster(the good and the bad), which I had already seen and heard of. Therefore, I was reading about events that I had once seen live, which was much more exciting than reading about it. Furthermore, during this area of the autobiography she tended to write with many exclamation points, which became a bit frustrating to read, especially when I obviously wasn’t as engaged in the moment as she had been. In addition, the sentences were a bit choppy since each scene could solely be described on with soccer vocabulary. Besides the ending of the book, if I were Morgan, I would have expanded more on her life outside of soccer. There were times where she described her family relationships and also mentioned her current work on achieving gender equality, specifically in terms of salaries. Although she gave background knowledge, I felt she did not emphasize the importance of it as well as she has in the past, through interviews, appearing on shows as a guest, and her published essay.
Alex Morgan is a remarkable athlete with perseverance, composure, and wisdom. Millions around the world have known this for years. What they didn’t know before having read her uplifting autobiography was how her touching journey led her to becoming the role model millions around the world know her as today. Furthermore, I found it very easy to relate to, as a soccer player myself. She faced countless adversities that I am familiar with, on and off the field. She does not try to sugarcoat anything and gives valuable advice on how to handle certain problems, something that no other autobiography that I have ever read has demonstrated so successfully. Even though the book was intended for ages 12 through 17, I would recommend it equally as enthusiastically to adults of all ages, who would also be able to easily connect with Morgan’s inspirational story. She battled through so much, and in some cases believed the adversities she faced would become permanent.
Alex Morgan proves in Breakaway: Beyond The Goal, that rough patches in life can be overcome by believing that something better always lies ahead.
In writing this book, Morgan hoped she would be able to assist people by helping them set objectives for themselves to make each day better than the one before. She also wanted to show a different side of her story. Today, most people know her as a phenomenal soccer player who had an early impact on the national team and continues to, on and off the field. However, this book shared inside information on how incredibly hard she worked to achieve her goals and how her determination took her thus far. Every chapter narrates a moment in her life that defines who she currently is, which is then summarized at the end of each one. For instance, in Chapter 51, her advice to readers was to face sudden change with courage. She explained how discussing her feelings openly with her teammates allowed her to better control her bravery and remain focused on her goals. This specific moment refers to the event during which the coach of the 2014 USWNT, Tom Sermanni, was fired during the 2014 Algarve Cup. I think her suggestions to living life to the fullest were sincere and relevant to various situations, therefore achieving her purpose of helping others feel related and unalone towards common issues.
Morgan’s honesty also helped her accomplish her goal of inspiring others to create their own journeys and turning their dreams into realities. She told her stories as they were, even if they didn’t make her look good. For example, while she was playing for her university, Cal, she wrote, “You turned your back on us once. We can and will turn our backs on you for good. You are not welcome back.” on Twitter about the staff in response to an unexpected catastrophe. She admitted that her tweet was published in the school newspaper and was later humiliated by her actions. Due to her casual and sincere style of writing, I felt as though she were talking to me through the book. While many times I thought her approach to telling her story was serious, most of the time I thought it was told in an almost humorous manner.
Being the youngest daughter of three in her family, Morgan grew up in a competitive environment where she longed to prove to everyone she could do everything just as well--if not better-- than her sisters could. She unleashed her fiery spirit in sports, including volleyball, softball, basketball, and most importantly, soccer. Morgan played recreational (rec) soccer until she was 11 years old, which meant she was off to a very late start in joining a club team. Therefore, in her first attempt to be admitted into a squad, she was not only rejected, but horrified and shocked. Although her speed was phenomenal and incredibly impressive, she lacked the skill required to play at a higher level. She worked extremely hard to make her way up back to the top. After having looked into several different clubs over the years, she finally found a club when she was sixteen, Cypress, where she was content and challenged. Six months after having trained with Cypress, the Cal South Olympic Development Program sighted her. Things got even more serious when she was recruited for the U-17 national team, and eventually USWNT.
Although I enjoyed reading about Morgan’s triumphs, my favorite parts of the book tended to be during her moments setbacks, because they taught me that even the best athletes in the world make mistakes. A specific game she had found utterly heartbreaking was a game Cal lost to Cal Poly in overtime. She and her teammates were devastated and crushed, because according to the statistics, the match was supposed to be an easy win, and Cal dramatically dropped in the rankings. Everyone was disappointed, and their coach ended up dropping everything and quitting a week later (this was the event she reacted to in the Tweet previously mentioned). Morgan obviously did not handle the situation professionally, but it was obvious she regretted what she had said. That’s the thing with celebrities. They are expected to be perfect and make no errors due to their high status in society. Reading about Morgan’s hindrances were interesting, partly due to the fact she was completely truthful, and partly because she proved that it is normal to have bad days, even when you’re famous. In more than one way, her negative experiences taught me that remaining positive helps keep your head clear when setting objectives and work towards them.
One of the least entertaining areas of the book occurred towards the end, during which Morgan outlined her recent and present life on the USWNT. She mostly discussed some of the most important games USWNT has played since she became a part of the roster(the good and the bad), which I had already seen and heard of. Therefore, I was reading about events that I had once seen live, which was much more exciting than reading about it. Furthermore, during this area of the autobiography she tended to write with many exclamation points, which became a bit frustrating to read, especially when I obviously wasn’t as engaged in the moment as she had been. In addition, the sentences were a bit choppy since each scene could solely be described on with soccer vocabulary. Besides the ending of the book, if I were Morgan, I would have expanded more on her life outside of soccer. There were times where she described her family relationships and also mentioned her current work on achieving gender equality, specifically in terms of salaries. Although she gave background knowledge, I felt she did not emphasize the importance of it as well as she has in the past, through interviews, appearing on shows as a guest, and her published essay.
Alex Morgan is a remarkable athlete with perseverance, composure, and wisdom. Millions around the world have known this for years. What they didn’t know before having read her uplifting autobiography was how her touching journey led her to becoming the role model millions around the world know her as today. Furthermore, I found it very easy to relate to, as a soccer player myself. She faced countless adversities that I am familiar with, on and off the field. She does not try to sugarcoat anything and gives valuable advice on how to handle certain problems, something that no other autobiography that I have ever read has demonstrated so successfully. Even though the book was intended for ages 12 through 17, I would recommend it equally as enthusiastically to adults of all ages, who would also be able to easily connect with Morgan’s inspirational story. She battled through so much, and in some cases believed the adversities she faced would become permanent.
Alex Morgan proves in Breakaway: Beyond The Goal, that rough patches in life can be overcome by believing that something better always lies ahead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 28, 2021This book is extremely encouraging and makes you want to reach every goal you ever made for yourself, it makes you want to become the best version of yourself.
May 29, 2015
Alex Morgan writes a combination memoir / advice book aimed at encouraging teens to pursue their dreams. It's like Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board without the constant references to god.
While some readers may find Alex's tone a little condescending and her advice contradictory at times (you're a winner! except for those times when you aren't!), I think my seventh grade readers will want to read -- and will enjoy -- this book.
First, I have a lot of soccer fans who are coming off of The Keeper: The Unguarded Story of Tim Howard (Young Readers' Edition) UNAand Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo: Head to Head with the World's Greatest Players and want to read something new in soccer athlete biographies.
Second, the chapters are short and are easily skimmable. Morgan summarizes each chapter at the end with a short takeaway lesson, and this textual feature alone is worth the book talk or mini lesson because it teaches students how to skim effectively and how to know what's worth reading and paying attention to.
Third, by the end of the book Morgan really shows her political colors a bit and comes out swinging. She describes the ongoing difficulties of establishing a professional womens' soccer league and the benefits of international collaboration between US, Canada, and Mexico on this level. Secondly, she's on a fight against astroturf given a claimed link to cancers, and apparently men at the World Cup get the luxury of a grass field while the women do not. Who figured that astroturf was such a contentious and contemporary issue?
While some readers may find Alex's tone a little condescending and her advice contradictory at times (you're a winner! except for those times when you aren't!), I think my seventh grade readers will want to read -- and will enjoy -- this book.
First, I have a lot of soccer fans who are coming off of The Keeper: The Unguarded Story of Tim Howard (Young Readers' Edition) UNAand Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo: Head to Head with the World's Greatest Players and want to read something new in soccer athlete biographies.
Second, the chapters are short and are easily skimmable. Morgan summarizes each chapter at the end with a short takeaway lesson, and this textual feature alone is worth the book talk or mini lesson because it teaches students how to skim effectively and how to know what's worth reading and paying attention to.
Third, by the end of the book Morgan really shows her political colors a bit and comes out swinging. She describes the ongoing difficulties of establishing a professional womens' soccer league and the benefits of international collaboration between US, Canada, and Mexico on this level. Secondly, she's on a fight against astroturf given a claimed link to cancers, and apparently men at the World Cup get the luxury of a grass field while the women do not. Who figured that astroturf was such a contentious and contemporary issue?
March 18, 2016
Alex Morgan knew she wanted to be a professional soccer player by the time she was eight years old. She practiced every day with her dad and was on multiple soccer leagues. Alex was not always the best soccer player on the field but she was definitely the fastest. Morgan went through many different coaches but each coach knew that if they put her in in the second half, that she would be a threat to the game. Alex Morgan got a Olympic Gold Medal, played on the US Women’s National Team, and scored a goal in the World Cup and she still is not done with her soccer career.
Breakaway Beyond The Goal was not the best book I have ever read. It was good in some ways and bad in others. The only thing I liked about it was that at the end of each chapter there was advice about life. One of my favorite encouragements that she gives is when she talks about how you can not let fear hold you back. One thing I hated about the book was that it was repetitive. I expected it to talk more about Alex’s personal life but it talked about her soccer life instead. At the end of the book it got to be really hard to understand. Alex explained her situation with the World Cup but kept referring back to the past.
Alex Morgan's book was confusing and incredible at the same time. It was confusing because it talked about the scores and scorers of each game. However, that is not information that I will need to know in years to come. It was incredible because she was 20-22 years old and already went to the World Cup. Also she already played on the US National Soccer Team. I would not recommend this book to a classmate because it was hard to comprehend. It might just be me but I found that this particular book was different than non-fiction. It was not about her life, it was only about her soccer career.
Breakaway Beyond The Goal was not the best book I have ever read. It was good in some ways and bad in others. The only thing I liked about it was that at the end of each chapter there was advice about life. One of my favorite encouragements that she gives is when she talks about how you can not let fear hold you back. One thing I hated about the book was that it was repetitive. I expected it to talk more about Alex’s personal life but it talked about her soccer life instead. At the end of the book it got to be really hard to understand. Alex explained her situation with the World Cup but kept referring back to the past.
Alex Morgan's book was confusing and incredible at the same time. It was confusing because it talked about the scores and scorers of each game. However, that is not information that I will need to know in years to come. It was incredible because she was 20-22 years old and already went to the World Cup. Also she already played on the US National Soccer Team. I would not recommend this book to a classmate because it was hard to comprehend. It might just be me but I found that this particular book was different than non-fiction. It was not about her life, it was only about her soccer career.
May 18, 2016
Breakaway: Beyond the goal
This autobiography of U.S national team womens team lead scorer Alex Morgan is one of the best out there, It tells of the goals she has and had, it tells of what college is like, playing soccer there, she tells of what it is like in a World Cup and Olympic Gold medal final, and what it is like to play for a national team.
This book is 100% non fiction because it is an autobiography, perfect for biography book reports, and tells Alex Morgan's inspiring and motivating tale from childhood to January 1,2015 when she got married. It is once again a mind-blowing tale that all will enjoy, yes, even if you are not a girl.
This autobiography of U.S national team womens team lead scorer Alex Morgan is one of the best out there, It tells of the goals she has and had, it tells of what college is like, playing soccer there, she tells of what it is like in a World Cup and Olympic Gold medal final, and what it is like to play for a national team.
This book is 100% non fiction because it is an autobiography, perfect for biography book reports, and tells Alex Morgan's inspiring and motivating tale from childhood to January 1,2015 when she got married. It is once again a mind-blowing tale that all will enjoy, yes, even if you are not a girl.
February 14, 2017
Breakaway by Alex Morgan tells the reader about the ups and downs of this young soccer players life. It is mostly about how she became a soccer player, and how she became the very successful soccer player she is, but it also gives the reader some insight on her personal life. In this book Alex Morgan inspires young kids to shoot for the stars and be better than they were before.
Alex Morgan is a true inspiration and I really enjoy the fact that it is an autobiography. The style of an autobiography makes it so that you feel more connected to her and you feel like she is trying to help you be a better person. I recommend this book to girls who love soccer, but also to girls who don't play soccer because she is teaching you how to be courageous and shoot for what you dream of.
Alex Morgan is a true inspiration and I really enjoy the fact that it is an autobiography. The style of an autobiography makes it so that you feel more connected to her and you feel like she is trying to help you be a better person. I recommend this book to girls who love soccer, but also to girls who don't play soccer because she is teaching you how to be courageous and shoot for what you dream of.
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April 24, 2017Alex Morgan is a professional soccer player on the U.S.A women's soccer national team. In this book it tells about her ups and downs and her journey getting to the national team. One negative thing in this book was when she tore her ACL when she was 17 years old. Another negative things was how in 2011 they lost the World Cup against Japan. Two positive things were that her and her team won the olympics in 2012 and how in 2012 again they won the World Cup for the first time. I really really really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to kids who enjoy soccer and want to know more about Alex Morgan.
May 1, 2016
A cute book for elementary-middle school age girls. Overall, I enjoyed the insights into the National team. However, I felt played when the story ended just months before the 2015 World Cup. The book jacket is misleading and implies that the Cup victory is discussed in the book. Seems like publishing this book to promote the World Cup, took precedence over finishing the story at a logical point. Publisher got my money and will probably get it again when they conveniently and inevitably come out with a second edition or different book that entirely includes the 2015 Cup Victory.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2017
I think that this book was a great autobiography! Alex Morgan made the book interesting, while telling her story and challenges she had to overcome. I liked this book mostly because it was about soccer and that's my favorite sport, but I also loved hearing her story. Now every time I see Alex Morgan whether its on tv, or a magazine, I feel like I know her story. One thing I think the author did well was giving a lot of comparisons of challenges that she overcame that are relatable to the reader.
May 23, 2016
Breakaway:Beyond The Goal by Alex Morgan is about how Alex Morgan succeeds in becoming a professional soccer player on the US Women's National Soccer Team. Alex Morgan talks about how she struggled to strive to be the best she could be on the field.
This book was very interesting to read. I would recommend this to a classmate since it showed how she succeeded by playing AYSO then playing club soccer.
This book was very interesting to read. I would recommend this to a classmate since it showed how she succeeded by playing AYSO then playing club soccer.
February 19, 2017
I really liked the author and appreciated how hard she worked to become one of the best soccer players in the world. I just don't think I'll put this on my recommended reads for teens because it seems to go from one game to another and it's not for someone not currently following soccer. Also, I didn't really like the affirming paragraphs at the end of each chapter, it broke up the narrative for me.
November 25, 2019
The very readable and inspiring story of one of the most talented women in professional soccer today. Her tone is positive and upbeat as she tells the story of her journey to become a professional player. She started as a child in California and never wavered on her road to get there. She kept setting and completing goals for each step of her journey.
Written to inspire and support kids to dream and work towards their dreams.
Written to inspire and support kids to dream and work towards their dreams.
January 21, 2016
Best Book i ever read
April 10, 2020
“Breakaway,” by professional women’s soccer player, Alex Morgan, is about her love for the game along with key concepts in following one’s dreams. Alex Morgan has played soccer since she was five years old, and decided when she was only eight that she wanted to be a professional soccer player. In “Breakaway” she shares her personal stories, along with inspirational facts, to keep pushing forward to one’s dream. Her main goal in writing this book is to inspire athletes and young individuals with talents to keep pursuing their dreams, and to never give up no matter what comes their way.
In the book, Alex Morgan describes how she grew up, and what led up to her playing on the USWNT (United States Women’s National Team), and her experiences on that team. The experiences she describes are not all exciting and happy, but she also shares the hardships she went through as an athlete, and how her and her team dealt with it. Pursuing one’s dreams will not be easy, and Alex Morgan doesn’t hide that because she knows that it takes effort and determination to reach.
Every book is different, and obviously Alex Morgan isn’t a famous author, so there are cons relating to the book. One thing I think wasn’t the greatest aspect of the book is that a lot of the games she played are described in detail, which stretched the book out a bit. I don’t believe it necessarily made the book bad, I just think it’s more for those who are very determined and love Alex Morgan. I’m not saying that I’m not determined, but if someone isn’t determined, the book would get a little boring. I don’t believe there is any offensive content in the book, it just contains many specific details that need patience when reading.
Every chapter in the book held an important message towards the end, which I thought were great additions to the book and made the message more clear in every chapter. The book not only contains sport related messages, but it also connects to regular life lessons, which I thought added a lot to each chapter. An example from the book is, “I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep good relationships in your life as you make your dreams come true. But you have to nurture these relationships, they do take work. -- Take time each day to think about the people in your life you love, and tell them how much you need them. They will appreciate it, I promise.”
Alex Morgan put a lot of time and effort into writing “Breakaway,” and I believe it will inspire athletes of all ages. It will induce a natural connection with her, regardless of what sport they play. Not many athletes write books, so I think writing a book from a professional like herself can really connect with individuals on a personal level. An excerpt from the book that I believe is very relatable with many people today is, “When you’re trying to achieve something, try your hardest, but be patient when things are out of your control. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to speed things along, so it’s best to just accept them for what they are.” This can apply to all aspects of life, not just sports.
In the book, Alex Morgan describes how she grew up, and what led up to her playing on the USWNT (United States Women’s National Team), and her experiences on that team. The experiences she describes are not all exciting and happy, but she also shares the hardships she went through as an athlete, and how her and her team dealt with it. Pursuing one’s dreams will not be easy, and Alex Morgan doesn’t hide that because she knows that it takes effort and determination to reach.
Every book is different, and obviously Alex Morgan isn’t a famous author, so there are cons relating to the book. One thing I think wasn’t the greatest aspect of the book is that a lot of the games she played are described in detail, which stretched the book out a bit. I don’t believe it necessarily made the book bad, I just think it’s more for those who are very determined and love Alex Morgan. I’m not saying that I’m not determined, but if someone isn’t determined, the book would get a little boring. I don’t believe there is any offensive content in the book, it just contains many specific details that need patience when reading.
Every chapter in the book held an important message towards the end, which I thought were great additions to the book and made the message more clear in every chapter. The book not only contains sport related messages, but it also connects to regular life lessons, which I thought added a lot to each chapter. An example from the book is, “I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep good relationships in your life as you make your dreams come true. But you have to nurture these relationships, they do take work. -- Take time each day to think about the people in your life you love, and tell them how much you need them. They will appreciate it, I promise.”
Alex Morgan put a lot of time and effort into writing “Breakaway,” and I believe it will inspire athletes of all ages. It will induce a natural connection with her, regardless of what sport they play. Not many athletes write books, so I think writing a book from a professional like herself can really connect with individuals on a personal level. An excerpt from the book that I believe is very relatable with many people today is, “When you’re trying to achieve something, try your hardest, but be patient when things are out of your control. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to speed things along, so it’s best to just accept them for what they are.” This can apply to all aspects of life, not just sports.
December 10, 2020
I enjoyed this book because I really like Alex Morgan as a soccer player and she is inspiring but her book was not as inspiring as I thought it would be.
I thought Carli Lloyd’s book was inspiring and Alex’s book did not connect to me.
I thought Carli Lloyd’s book was inspiring and Alex’s book did not connect to me.
March 9, 2021
This gets a 5 star rating from my 12 year old self. Pure nostalgia right here.
Also, I lent this book to my sister's friend a couple years back and guess what? They lost it! Of course! I'm still so mad about that.
Also, I lent this book to my sister's friend a couple years back and guess what? They lost it! Of course! I'm still so mad about that.
July 20, 2022
ive read this book a long time ago j thiught i should hv rated it lmao 😭😭😭😭😭😭
July 31, 2024
Good book I Love Alex Morgan and Soccer it really gets into her life
January 17, 2025
Written for 10-12 year old range. Reads easily. Good pacing.
July 17, 2023
Alex Morgan, an American Icon
I asked Bing's AI Chat to give a brief review of Alex Morgan’s, Breakaway: Beyond the Goal, Simon and Schuster Children’s Division, 2015, and got this reply:
Alex Morgan's memoir, Breakaway: Beyond the Goal, is a great book . . . America's soccer darling . . . shares her amazing story and captivates the hearts of readers in her new book . . . The book has received positive reviews on Amazon, with 83% of reviewers giving it a 5-star rating. Reviewers have praised the book for its inspirational messages, interesting details about Morgan's life, and relevance to young athletes.
I would have added that each of the memoir's chapters ended with a homily to inspire young readers. Hyper-critical readers could argue that the homilies consist mainly of cliches, but Alex Morgan is a near-perfect legend who, in my eyes, is a modern-day goddess. Her main imperfection is her California Valley Girl accent, which could have come straight out of the classic underground movie, Clueless, a modern rendition of Jane Austen's, Emma.
Morgan's football career followed the typical white privileged girl intensely involved in a sport which, before high school, they had to navigate a complex "pay to play" system. Such girls had to have the luxury of one or both parents, usually a "soccer mom," with the time and finances to chauffeur their precious daughters to and from local soccer fields. As. Ashley Sanchez, a rising young footballer, exclaimed, "Soccer is expensive."
After paying her dues in the youth club system, the stereotypical football girl would go to a local upper-middle-class high school with a first-rate soccer team. If the high school were private, it would probably be Catholic. The next step for girls wishing to become professionals would be to attend a prestigious soccer school such as Stanford, North Carolina or UCLA. However, Morgan attended Berkeley, not exactly a soccer powerhouse. For whatever reason, she was unimpressed with Stanford when she visited the campus.
Alex's memoir chronicles her football life to when she had a serious her injury followed by a lengthy rehabilitation to get back on the pitch. Until then, this was the only setback the footballer ever had. After recovering from her injury, Alex joined the American national team, and although not a starter, she won an Olympic Gold Medal that year. The book ends with her fairy tale wedding to Servando Carrasco, a Mexican American professional footballer from Tijuana, Mexico's rough and tough border town. When the memoir ends in 2015, Alex marries her college sweetheart. While her single life ended, her legendary did not. Alex went on to win the prestigious Silver Boot for her heroics at the 2019 World Cup.
That year, The World Cup was a quantum leap for Morgan, the American champions, and women's football worldwide. However, The American team considered invincible, suffered a setback the next year in the Tokyo Olympics when the US came in third. The disappointing finish brought uncertainty to Morgan and the team, forcing its new coach, Vlatko Andonovski, to make transitional decisions he might not have made otherwise. One of those decisions involved the forward positions, which gave the football world the 2019 World Cup legends of Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press, and Morgan, who played as the center forward, the closest equivalent to the quarterback in American football.
The fate of Tobin Heath and Christen Press, two of the stars of the 2019 team and sweethearts of the queer set, are examples of the uncertainty of the transitional American squad, indicating the direction Andonovski was heading to reshape the team. When the new coach announced his first roster, he did not invite any legendary forwards, including Morgan, to his squad. Vlatko wanted to look at many young guns first. In addition, I suspect that he did not invite Heath and Press to the squad because of their much-publicized lesbian relationship. Not that Vlatko was anti-LBGTQ, but because of the publicity the couple generated. He felt that one of the reasons for the disappointment with the Olympic results was the team needed more focus, and the Tobin/Press romance detracted from that focus.
Later, he invited Rapinoe, the team's leader and firebrand in 2019, to the team, but on condition that she played a lesser role as a squad mentor and cheerleader. Perhaps Vlatko also hinted that she should play down her social justice issues. Rapinoe had said that she wouldn’t go to Trump’s “fucking” White House but early went to the Capital to accept Biden’s Freedom Medal. Later Andonovski asked "me" generation Christen Press to join the squad. She declined, stating she was going on a New Age pilgrimage in Spain.
Andonovksi also announced that how well the roster candidates performed with their club teams would be a major metric for whether they made the final cut. Christen Press had been one of the first selections of the new Los Angeles club, Angel City, but played minimal minutes for them. Tobin Heath had no minutes on any national club and didn't receive an invite when she was healthy, as was her paramour, Christen. Alex Morgan, on the other hand, not only started for the newly formed San Diego Wave but played as if her role on the US team was in jeopardy. As a result of her club performance, Andonovski invited Morgan to be the starting forward position for the team. Alex accepted the invite, returning to the pitch after giving birth to a daughter, giving a new meaning to the term, “soccer mom.”
Nevertheless, Morgan's status on Vlatko’s new World Cup team is not assured. Aging is not welcomed in sports. Mogan is 34, among the oldest of the 2019 team on the squad, when Andonovski tipped his hand that he was leaning towards youth for his team. She and other veterans will inevitably give way to younger stars such as Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, Sophia Smith, and Naomi Girma.
Emily Fox is the only white of the bunch and followed a privileged girl route like Alex's in making her first World Cup roster. Trinity Rodman is the daughter of the iconoclast former NBA star, Dennis Rodman. Trinity's mother is an ex-Los Angeles Laker cheerleader who raised Trinity in Newport Beach, California, known for its harbor's multi-million-dollar yachts. The mixed-race footballer's relationship with her father is the stuff for Freudian analysis. For example, Trinity no longer dyes her hair blonde and eschews her father's tattoos and body piercings. She has a strong Electra Complex, as with all the players.
Her good friend, another rising star, Ashley Sanchez, who, were it not for her surname, would be as white as Emily Fox, whose nickname, of course, is "Foxy." Ashley was recently in a video, asking if she was "Mexican enough." Ashley and Trinity clubbed at SoCal Blues near ritzy Laguna Beach and became soul mates, playing with the Washington Spirit Club as rookies.
Naomi Girma, who, to be politically correct, considers herself black, although she has little in common with most African Americans. Naomi's parents are immigrants from Ethiopia who raised her in upscale Silicon Valley. The father, a former footballer, fought in one of Ethiopia's civil wars. Her mother is a professional educator. Naomi graduated from Stanford with a degree in symbol systems and is pursuing her master's in engineering. A recent article called her a genius on and off the pitch.
When Sophia Smith first made the World Cup roster, I called her the "Mysterious Stanford Lady" because of her low profile during Covid, when she played the ingenuous girl from Colorado with strange origins. Now the star forward interviews aplomb, as if scripted, perhaps sensing that she will replace Morgan as the "Face of American Soccer," as Mia Hamm was before Alex replaced her. When this happens, a legend of three goddesses will emerge. Morgan is Mia Hamm-incarnate, and Sophia Smith may be Morgan's successor. Three divas in search of a myth.
Recently Alex Morgan was named co-captain of the 2023 World Cup team, which has different characteristics than her 2019 squad. The 2023 team is less actively engaged in social justice and LBGTQ issues than the 2019 team. Nine of the 23 players are holdovers from the last World Cup squad, and Stanford remains the university with the most alums. In 2019 all the Stanford players were queer, while no veteran starters who survived the Andonovski purge were. The only black among the 2019 starters was Crystal Dunn, a star in her own right. Ten members of the 2023 team are so-called minorities, with one Mexican American, three or four mixed-race, and four or five blacks. The above numbers are fuzzy because labels such as black, queer, white, and the like are social constructs. For example, minus the goalkeepers, we could also say that the squad is 50 percent non-white or 50 percent Aryan. Numbers, when applied to labels, can be biased.
Ideally, such loaded terms should not be used or modified to fit America’s new diversity, a gestalt heading toward transcendence. The most magnificent aspect of the women's national team is they have evolved toward that ideal. The team has become as diverse as it has because it has one metric: they are the best at what they do on the pitch, regardless of race, color, or creed. Their quest for excellence with their color and gender awareness continues in other facets of their charmed lives, an awareness that also influences others.
Whether America's team will win the beautiful game’s championship this year remains questionable. History tells us that a football team, men, or women, has never won the World Cup three times in a row. Statistics, however, say whether a team has won previous World Cups does not influence current odds, which gamblers place at +275. The 2023 odds to repeat the championship is better than the closing odds for the 2019 winners. Translated to probability, America's team has a 26 percent chance of a three-peat.
If the Americans beat the odds and win the World Cup for the fifth time, Alex Morgan will remain a peerless legend in the USA and worldwide. If fate smiles on her again, it couldn't happen to a better person than Alex Morgan, even if she still speaks with a Clueless Valley Girl accent. Her next book after Breakaway: Beyond the Goal > will be Apotheosis: the making of a goddess.>
I asked Bing's AI Chat to give a brief review of Alex Morgan’s, Breakaway: Beyond the Goal, Simon and Schuster Children’s Division, 2015, and got this reply:
Alex Morgan's memoir, Breakaway: Beyond the Goal, is a great book . . . America's soccer darling . . . shares her amazing story and captivates the hearts of readers in her new book . . . The book has received positive reviews on Amazon, with 83% of reviewers giving it a 5-star rating. Reviewers have praised the book for its inspirational messages, interesting details about Morgan's life, and relevance to young athletes.
I would have added that each of the memoir's chapters ended with a homily to inspire young readers. Hyper-critical readers could argue that the homilies consist mainly of cliches, but Alex Morgan is a near-perfect legend who, in my eyes, is a modern-day goddess. Her main imperfection is her California Valley Girl accent, which could have come straight out of the classic underground movie, Clueless, a modern rendition of Jane Austen's, Emma.
Morgan's football career followed the typical white privileged girl intensely involved in a sport which, before high school, they had to navigate a complex "pay to play" system. Such girls had to have the luxury of one or both parents, usually a "soccer mom," with the time and finances to chauffeur their precious daughters to and from local soccer fields. As. Ashley Sanchez, a rising young footballer, exclaimed, "Soccer is expensive."
After paying her dues in the youth club system, the stereotypical football girl would go to a local upper-middle-class high school with a first-rate soccer team. If the high school were private, it would probably be Catholic. The next step for girls wishing to become professionals would be to attend a prestigious soccer school such as Stanford, North Carolina or UCLA. However, Morgan attended Berkeley, not exactly a soccer powerhouse. For whatever reason, she was unimpressed with Stanford when she visited the campus.
Alex's memoir chronicles her football life to when she had a serious her injury followed by a lengthy rehabilitation to get back on the pitch. Until then, this was the only setback the footballer ever had. After recovering from her injury, Alex joined the American national team, and although not a starter, she won an Olympic Gold Medal that year. The book ends with her fairy tale wedding to Servando Carrasco, a Mexican American professional footballer from Tijuana, Mexico's rough and tough border town. When the memoir ends in 2015, Alex marries her college sweetheart. While her single life ended, her legendary did not. Alex went on to win the prestigious Silver Boot for her heroics at the 2019 World Cup.
That year, The World Cup was a quantum leap for Morgan, the American champions, and women's football worldwide. However, The American team considered invincible, suffered a setback the next year in the Tokyo Olympics when the US came in third. The disappointing finish brought uncertainty to Morgan and the team, forcing its new coach, Vlatko Andonovski, to make transitional decisions he might not have made otherwise. One of those decisions involved the forward positions, which gave the football world the 2019 World Cup legends of Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press, and Morgan, who played as the center forward, the closest equivalent to the quarterback in American football.
The fate of Tobin Heath and Christen Press, two of the stars of the 2019 team and sweethearts of the queer set, are examples of the uncertainty of the transitional American squad, indicating the direction Andonovski was heading to reshape the team. When the new coach announced his first roster, he did not invite any legendary forwards, including Morgan, to his squad. Vlatko wanted to look at many young guns first. In addition, I suspect that he did not invite Heath and Press to the squad because of their much-publicized lesbian relationship. Not that Vlatko was anti-LBGTQ, but because of the publicity the couple generated. He felt that one of the reasons for the disappointment with the Olympic results was the team needed more focus, and the Tobin/Press romance detracted from that focus.
Later, he invited Rapinoe, the team's leader and firebrand in 2019, to the team, but on condition that she played a lesser role as a squad mentor and cheerleader. Perhaps Vlatko also hinted that she should play down her social justice issues. Rapinoe had said that she wouldn’t go to Trump’s “fucking” White House but early went to the Capital to accept Biden’s Freedom Medal. Later Andonovski asked "me" generation Christen Press to join the squad. She declined, stating she was going on a New Age pilgrimage in Spain.
Andonovksi also announced that how well the roster candidates performed with their club teams would be a major metric for whether they made the final cut. Christen Press had been one of the first selections of the new Los Angeles club, Angel City, but played minimal minutes for them. Tobin Heath had no minutes on any national club and didn't receive an invite when she was healthy, as was her paramour, Christen. Alex Morgan, on the other hand, not only started for the newly formed San Diego Wave but played as if her role on the US team was in jeopardy. As a result of her club performance, Andonovski invited Morgan to be the starting forward position for the team. Alex accepted the invite, returning to the pitch after giving birth to a daughter, giving a new meaning to the term, “soccer mom.”
Nevertheless, Morgan's status on Vlatko’s new World Cup team is not assured. Aging is not welcomed in sports. Mogan is 34, among the oldest of the 2019 team on the squad, when Andonovski tipped his hand that he was leaning towards youth for his team. She and other veterans will inevitably give way to younger stars such as Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, Sophia Smith, and Naomi Girma.
Emily Fox is the only white of the bunch and followed a privileged girl route like Alex's in making her first World Cup roster. Trinity Rodman is the daughter of the iconoclast former NBA star, Dennis Rodman. Trinity's mother is an ex-Los Angeles Laker cheerleader who raised Trinity in Newport Beach, California, known for its harbor's multi-million-dollar yachts. The mixed-race footballer's relationship with her father is the stuff for Freudian analysis. For example, Trinity no longer dyes her hair blonde and eschews her father's tattoos and body piercings. She has a strong Electra Complex, as with all the players.
Her good friend, another rising star, Ashley Sanchez, who, were it not for her surname, would be as white as Emily Fox, whose nickname, of course, is "Foxy." Ashley was recently in a video, asking if she was "Mexican enough." Ashley and Trinity clubbed at SoCal Blues near ritzy Laguna Beach and became soul mates, playing with the Washington Spirit Club as rookies.
Naomi Girma, who, to be politically correct, considers herself black, although she has little in common with most African Americans. Naomi's parents are immigrants from Ethiopia who raised her in upscale Silicon Valley. The father, a former footballer, fought in one of Ethiopia's civil wars. Her mother is a professional educator. Naomi graduated from Stanford with a degree in symbol systems and is pursuing her master's in engineering. A recent article called her a genius on and off the pitch.
When Sophia Smith first made the World Cup roster, I called her the "Mysterious Stanford Lady" because of her low profile during Covid, when she played the ingenuous girl from Colorado with strange origins. Now the star forward interviews aplomb, as if scripted, perhaps sensing that she will replace Morgan as the "Face of American Soccer," as Mia Hamm was before Alex replaced her. When this happens, a legend of three goddesses will emerge. Morgan is Mia Hamm-incarnate, and Sophia Smith may be Morgan's successor. Three divas in search of a myth.
Recently Alex Morgan was named co-captain of the 2023 World Cup team, which has different characteristics than her 2019 squad. The 2023 team is less actively engaged in social justice and LBGTQ issues than the 2019 team. Nine of the 23 players are holdovers from the last World Cup squad, and Stanford remains the university with the most alums. In 2019 all the Stanford players were queer, while no veteran starters who survived the Andonovski purge were. The only black among the 2019 starters was Crystal Dunn, a star in her own right. Ten members of the 2023 team are so-called minorities, with one Mexican American, three or four mixed-race, and four or five blacks. The above numbers are fuzzy because labels such as black, queer, white, and the like are social constructs. For example, minus the goalkeepers, we could also say that the squad is 50 percent non-white or 50 percent Aryan. Numbers, when applied to labels, can be biased.
Ideally, such loaded terms should not be used or modified to fit America’s new diversity, a gestalt heading toward transcendence. The most magnificent aspect of the women's national team is they have evolved toward that ideal. The team has become as diverse as it has because it has one metric: they are the best at what they do on the pitch, regardless of race, color, or creed. Their quest for excellence with their color and gender awareness continues in other facets of their charmed lives, an awareness that also influences others.
Whether America's team will win the beautiful game’s championship this year remains questionable. History tells us that a football team, men, or women, has never won the World Cup three times in a row. Statistics, however, say whether a team has won previous World Cups does not influence current odds, which gamblers place at +275. The 2023 odds to repeat the championship is better than the closing odds for the 2019 winners. Translated to probability, America's team has a 26 percent chance of a three-peat.
If the Americans beat the odds and win the World Cup for the fifth time, Alex Morgan will remain a peerless legend in the USA and worldwide. If fate smiles on her again, it couldn't happen to a better person than Alex Morgan, even if she still speaks with a Clueless Valley Girl accent. Her next book after Breakaway: Beyond the Goal > will be Apotheosis: the making of a goddess.>
April 13, 2020
I really liked it because not only was the book about soccer but about following your dreams, and other very good life lessons that I think everyone should know.
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