Forward: My Story

by Abby Wambach, Allyson Ryan (Narrator)

Abby Wambach has always pushed the limits of what is possible. Named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of 2015, the iconic soccer player captured the nation’s heart when she led her team to its recent World Cup Championship. Admired for her fearlessness and passion, Abby is a vocal advocate for women’s rights and equal opportunity, pushing to translate the success of her team to the real world. She has become a heavily requested speaker to a wide a range of audiences, from college students to executives at Fortune 500 companies.

In this edition of 'FORWARD' that’s been adapted for young readers, Abby recounts her own decisions, wins, losses, and the pivotal moments that helped her become the world class athlete and leader she is today. Wambach’s book goes beyond the soccer field to reveal a soulful person grappling with universal questions about how we can live our best lives and become our truest selves. Written with honesty and heart, 'FORWARD' is an inspiring blueprint for individual growth and a rousing call to action.




RUNNING TIME => 4hrs. and 39mins.

©2016 Abby Wambach (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Sports, Biography

Audible Audio

First published September 13, 2016

About the author

ABBY WAMBACH is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion, and the highest all-time international goal scorer for male and female soccer players. She is an activist for equality and inclusion and the New York Times bestselling author of Forward: A Memoir. Abby is co-founder of Wolfpack Endeavor, which is revolutionizing leadership development for women in the workplace and beyond through her champion mindset, individualized coaching, and team-bound focus. Abby lives in Florida with her wife and three children.

Reviews

[Kelly]

I'm very much Not A Soccer Person but this book was really well written and compelling. Wambach is great at talking about her victories as much as she is about being honest with herself and with readers about her bad side and weaknesses. I love that we see her personal life as much as her professional life, and this never felt like it condescended to readers (it's a YRE, so the possibility for that to happen is there). More, her openness about her sexuality and her talk about dating, about the challenges and fears she had about telling her parents, and about the ways her relationships haven't always been picture perfect were so refreshing to read about. Nothing is picture-perfect, even if it's a picture of kissing your wife that makes you a viral sensation.

Great for sports fans as well as readers who want a great story of a woman who made a name for herself and did so without sacrificing her true nature, as prickly as it could sometimes be.

[Solar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book because it was an easy read and I got to see into the experiences Abby had as a child and being the best at something and what it was like for her to play in the national team and the wusa, wps, and nwsl. I also just love Abby Wambach and she's amazing so I would've read it regardless of whether it was good or not but it was still a really good book. I also learned new things about Abby that I didn't know of before like Megan and Abby(like what???), it's so weird I just can picture Meg with anyone else other than Sue but anyways. I also got excited when she was talking about the pinky graze at the macaroni grill that they also talked about on the podcast so fun fun. And this is the yre and I still want to read the other version but unfortunately, our school doesn't have it so that's sad.

[victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a memoir about Abby Wambach, a very famous soccer player, and a successful person. You get a unique adjective each chapter, usually describing herself, dealing with a soccer game, family issues, her love life, friends, and mental health.

I have read this book before, but I wanted to re-read it because I remember it being one of my favorites. Now, I also want to read the adult one and compare the 2.

Not only is the book really interesting from a soccer standpoint, and since I wasn't alive for some of Abby's games, or old enough to watch, it was really interesting to hear about everything that happened in these games, like the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, the 2008 Olympics she had to miss due to the Olympics, and the 3 soccer leagues she has been part of, 2 of them have folded. But, not only is the book interesting from a soccer standpoint, hearing about her struggles measuring what she called "Chill Abby" and "Intense Abby" were really fascinating, hearing the advice she would give teammates was really inspiring, not to mention how well she always looked on TV when I would watch her play soccer when she was really dealing with a lot outside of soccer.

Overall, if you are a soccer player or not a soccer player, I would really recommend this book, especially for younger readers like me, it's a great memoir and very inspiring.

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable autobiography by the soccer star. Girls who are interested in soccer or most any sport will pick this up and enjoy as well as relate to Abby Wambach's struggles becoming a sports star and then maintaining that lofty position. She also includes a fair amount of space and time to her struggles as a lesbian and seeking love. Her career on the field is often smoother than her quest for relationships with their myriad ups and downs. Girls of all sorts will appreciate the quest to excel and also to be seen as lovable, not just as a high achiever but as an individual. The publisher recommends this book for children between 8 and 12; I take exception to that. Upper elementary and middle school would be more appropriate as the narrative can be complex at times. Children so young are not as interested in romance as somewhat older readers. Abby Wambach also makes a strong case for the inequality in compensation in women's sports.

[Antoine Ivtchenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book as I really like soccer. I grew up watching Abby Wambach on TV and then reading this book to know that she is gay is very important and spreads awareness to the world. This book is for younger people but she has a book for adults which is probably more complicated and explains her story a little better. Since this book is like a documentary is was a little boring at parts but other than that, I would stay up to 11 reading this book and switched between Salvage the Bones as that was the book we were reading in class. This book was a little emotional because it talks about sexual harassment on her teammate who was also gay. The story talks about her family and how she became a professional soccer player, so if you are into sports and how people make it to college soccer and pro, you should read this book! In Conclusion, I really liked this book and got very attached to the story. I am into sports a lot so this was a perfect book for me.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wambach, Abby Forward: My Story, 208 pgs. HarperCollins Publishers, 2016. $16.99 Language – PG (2 swear, 0 “f”), Mature Content – PG; Violence – PG;

Wambach talks about the cycles of her life—the ups and downs—and honestly puts her success and failures out for all to read. Her transparency in admitting faults, mistakes, shortcomings, and frustrations encourage the question, “If a person like that can also be amazing and inspiring, why not me?” While not everyone is going to be a soccer player, we can all relate to the desire to discover ourselves and be accepted for who we are.

Wambach uses the labels she was given throughout her life to illustrate how we can fall into many categories, but, in the end, we choose who we are and who we want to become. The honesty and authenticity of Abby Wambach are the reasons I enjoyed her autobiography.

MS, HS – OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...

[Keeley R.]

Abby Wambach is a recently retired player on the USWNT. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a FIFA World Cup winner, and a six-time winner of the US Soccer Athlete of the Year award. In her autobiography, "Forward, My Story" she explains the hardships she faced in her life and how she overcame them. I thought that this book was very inspirational, and touching, but it can also be a tear jerker at times. She went through breakups, hard times in her career, and difficulties growing up. On page 132, she explains that in the same month she wrecked her car in an accident and miraculously didn't get hurt, and that her friend and old team owner, Dan Borislow, had passed. Along with all of this, her wife, Sarah, was living in a completely different state, causing problems in their relationship. After winning the 2016 FIFA Women's World Cup, she and Sarah got in such a bad fight that she went to go stay with her friends in Los Angeles. At the end of the book , on page 206, Abby explains that her and Sarah are split up, and unsure about their future. Through all of the hardships, she pushed through, became an incredibly successful soccer player and had become an inspiration to many young girls, including myself.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was randomly listening to a Bréne Brown podcast where she interviewed an athlete called Abby Wambach as I travelled to Utrecht to visit my friend Kat. I exited the back of the station, and started on the 25-minute walk to their shared artistic low-impact house. On the way, I ran into a book sharing box - I can never resist a book sharing box. This was the most high quality box I've encountered so far! I found Black Swan, which used to be all the rage 10 years ago, a science fiction novel that was on a recent list of "20 non-english authors to watch"... and then I also found a biography of Abbey Wambach, who was talking to me at that very moment.

I'm a sucker for a good coincidence, so I took it with me, started reading it on Kat's fold-out couch and finished it in the train back home. It was a fun look into a world of a lesbian, underpaid top athlete, and it was good to read a biography that was written by the person and not a ghost writer. I was amused that she describes herself as "the most obnoxious person in the room", because that was kind of the vibe I was getting from the many e-mails that she included in the book.

And yeah, that 2011 goal against Brazil was indeed amazing.
Tempted to still read Wolfpack as well!

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading about the lives of athletes. Their families, their struggles, and the games that made them who they are. Abby's book for young readers tells all of this. On the other hand, this is the most introspective memoir I've read from an athlete. It's clear that she has struggled over the years trying to figure out who she is. She talks about having two sides to her personality and only being happy when the two are in balance.

Her soccer career is the main thread of her story, but she also talks a lot about her relationships. I'm not sure why she talks about it so much, but it feels a little out of place for a kid's book. I doubt kids can relate to, or care about, the emotional ups and downs of adult relationships. The book loses steam for me towards the end. It's mostly Abby putting her emotional upheaval on paper with no clear direction. I would have rather her figured things out before penning them, so there would have been something for the reader to grab onto and learn from.

[Ann Woodbury Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reserved this thinking that I was getting the adult version. It turned out that my library system didn't own it (at least not in book format), so I requested it through WorldCat. But since I now had this condensed autobiography for teens I skimmed through it while reading the "real" story. It was fascinating--and odd--to see what was omitted. Yes, it was shorter and a number of incidents were left out completely or highly abbreviated. Wambach's frequent use of profanity was also axed. But so was her alcoholism and abuse of prescription drugs, along with a DUI and the wake-up call it became in her life. "My Story" seemed almost empty (especially the ending) as a result. The editors had no issues including Wambach's lesbianism and her challenging marriage to another soccer player (filled with fights and eventual divorce), so I don't understand why addiction would be nixed. (I became interested in Wambach after reading "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle; the two are now married, and Doyle describes their unexpected meeting and falling in love.)

[Audrey K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forward is an inspirational story about Abby Wambach's struggles of being a female athlete. I enjoyed this book, mostly because I'm an athlete and I could relate to this book. Abby didn't shy away from what she thought. She talks about being a Female athlete and the struggles that come with it, and how women should be treated more equally. She was also able to talk about her personal life including her relationships and living as a lesbian. She also talks about the mistakes she made and how she overcame them not just on the field but in life too. I felt that I was able to get into this book because I was able to relate to the difficulty of being an athlete and how it takes a lot of commitment. I would highly recommend you read this if you enjoy biographies, love soccer, or want an empowering book.

[Natasha Rudd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was really inspiring to hear Abby Wambach's story as one of my idols. I understand how it was hard for to come out and get over injuries because all you want to do in the world is play or do the thing that you love and when you're kept from it, it is hard to wait until the time is right. This book is about Abby Wambach's journey as a pro soccer player and her journey in relationships, marriage struggles, and choices you personally have to make. Overall, I loved this book and it was very inspirational to hear about her life.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Forward: My Story, Abby Wambach, a World Cup champion and US Women's Soccer Team captain, details her life from her childhood to her recent jump into the limelight. Wambach delivers an inspiring memoir of how she pushed through the hardships in life and kept moving the ball forward. This novel is a very real, inspiring, and exciting story that I would recommend to any soccer fan, especially those thinking about quitting it.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My obsession with women's football continues to grow so I was pleased to find the audiobook of this. It's a mix of Abby's personal life and her career in sport and with the US national team. Abby is an outstanding soccer player and it was interesting to hear about her setbacks, injuries, and persistence to play. On a general note I loved learning about the progression of the US team, considering how dominant they currently (in 2019) are in women's international football.

[Kathy Maggiacomo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirational
Lots of soccer details
LGBQ book

[Terry]

Read. Not reviewed.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and is very insperational! Abby tells the truth and relality as it is / was which is something that I very much like!

[Elizabeth StClair · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good I finished it in one day! Well written. Couldn't get my hands on the "adult" version so read the young readers one but it did not disappoint. Learned a couple of things.

[Janeen Miklos · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspiration this book is!

[Anne Bolgert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my sports memoir era. Audiobook. 3.5. I think she should've waited longer before writing a memoir. Undercut the credibility of the changes at the end being so quick before writing.

[Lyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Received a free copy from GR giveaway**

3.5 stars. I did enjoy the book as Wambach didn't shy away from the difficulties of training and competing - injuries, time away from family, maintaining conditioning - that sometimes get glossed over. This is a great book for any girls interested in competitive sport.

My only issue is that the book is listed for ages 8-12. After working with children in this age range, I'm thinking the age recommendation is skewed a little young.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!!! I loved this book because it gave lots of details and facts that I did not know about. I also liked this book because now i know her really story because it is told by her. she also gave lots of good advice to young soccer players.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best memoir I've ever read. Not sure how it's been adapted from the adult version or if there are photos included. Listened on audio. Felt uneven, too much of some things and not enough about others. But fans will want this book for sure.

[Beck Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby gave a clear understanding about her career and her book can inspire many people reading it.

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Language – PG (2 swear, 0 “f”), Mature Content – PG; Violence – PG; Wambach talks about the cycles of her life—the ups and downs—and honestly puts her success and failures out for all to read. Her transparency in admitting faults, mistakes, shortcomings, and frustrations encourage the question, “If a person like that can also be amazing and inspiring, why not me?” While not everyone is going to be a soccer player, we can all relate to the desire to discover ourselves and be accepted for who we are. Wambach uses the labels she was given throughout her life to illustrate how we can fall into many categories, but, in the end, we choose who we are and who we want to become. The honesty and authenticity of Abby Wambach are the reasons I enjoyed her autobiography.
Reviewed for http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/

[Cassidy Kroeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book!!!

[Sophie]

This book was very very good. It taught me to always believe in myself even when others won't. This book also taught me that I should always be honest with myself and those around me. Abby wambach captures what the struggle is like being a natinoal soccer player, and struggling with her love life. Abby shows through words her early life and when she started playing soccer. This book really taught me that life isn't peaches and cream. In conclusion, this book is very good to read when you want to have more confidence in yourself.