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Solo: A Memoir of Hope

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 574 ratings · 122 reviews

"My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise."

Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete. She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at what she does: protecting the goal of the U.S. women's soccer team. Her outsized...more "My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise."

Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete. She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at what she does: protecting the goal of the U.S. women's soccer team. Her outsized talent has led her to the pinnacle of her sport--the Olympics and the World Cup--and made her into an international celebrity who is just as likely to appear on ABC's Dancing with the Stars as she is on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, and Vogue. But her journey--which began in Richland, Washington, where she was raised by her strong-willed mother on the scorched earth of defunct nuclear testing sites--is similarly haunted by the fallout of her family history. Her father, a philanderer and con man, was convicted of embezzlement when Solo was an infant. She lost touch with him as he drifted out of prison and into homelessness. By the time they reunited, years later, in the parking lot of a grocery store, she was an All-American goalkeeper at the University of Washington and already a budding prospect for the U.S. national team. He was living in the woods.

Despite harboring serious doubts even about the provenance of her father's last name (and her own), Solo embraces him as fiercely as she pursues her dreams of being a world-class soccer player. When those dreams are threatened by her standing within the national team, as when she was famously benched in the semifinals of the 2007 World Cup after four shutouts and spoke her piece publicly, we see a woman of uncompromising independence and hard-won perseverance navigate the petty backlash against her. For the first time, she tells her version of that controversial episode, and offers with it a full understanding of her hard-scrabble life.

Moving, sometimes shocking, Solo is a portrait of an athlete finding redemption. This is the Hope Solo whom few have ever glimpsed.

Signed poster inside.(less)

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published August 14th 2012 by HarperCollins

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Oct 18, 2012 Regi Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was blown away by the honesty and openness of this book. I have always seen Hope Solo as a wonderful athlete, but I truly see her as an amazing woman. I am glad my daughters see her as a role model.

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Apr 10, 2013 April Fell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Name: April M. Fell
Title: A Memoir of Hope: SOLO
Genre: Biography
APA: Killian, H. S. (2012). A Memoirof Hope: Solo. New York: Harper Collins.
Selection Process: Goodreads.com

Hope Solo has been deemed America’s greatest women’s soccer goalie of all times. This title has come at a tremendous cost for Solo’s career as a professional soccer player. The tattoo etched on her back speaks to her fight in the face of adversity and it is from second Corinthians: “Persecuted but not forsaken. Cast down but...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hope Solo is the best goal keeper in the world and one of the most fascinating athletes on the planet. Without her we would not have won gold in London or Beijing and with her we may have won the '07 World Cup. That last part, her benching at the hands of incompetent coach Greg Ryan, in favor of a past her prime Briana Scurry, is what drives much of the book. It's a tale of an unfair decision derailing a team and nearly wrecking a career that had not yet hit its peak.

Hope did not have it easy gr...more Hope Solo is the best goal keeper in the world and one of the most fascinating athletes on the planet. Without her we would not have won gold in London or Beijing and with her we may have won the '07 World Cup. That last part, her benching at the hands of incompetent coach Greg Ryan, in favor of a past her prime Briana Scurry, is what drives much of the book. It's a tale of an unfair decision derailing a team and nearly wrecking a career that had not yet hit its peak.

Hope did not have it easy growing up in Eastern Washington with a combative, relatively poor family and a father who, though caring, was a con-man with women all over the country, as well as with a few last names and fake identities. Hope's athleticism (probably would be a borderline national team striker had she gone that route) is what set her apart as a keeper and is a tremendous aid in her ridiculous ability to block 60 mph shots from inside 10 yards. However, her attitude rubs a number of people the wrong way and as the book wore on my impression of Hope the person did dwindle a bit. Ninety percent of people are against her it seems, and when it reaches that level you have to start wondering, "Is it me?" For the '07 WC debacle I hold her blameless. She was unfairly railroaded and then her team acted like children. Hope says a male athlete would not have faced that much media scrutiny, and she's right, but a male team wouldn't have behaved like 7th graders with tactics of the silent treatment and ostracizing. Hope was the best player on that team and all but Carli Lloyd, who justifiably enough would pair with Hope as the two best players on the team in both the '08 and '12 Olympic gold medal games, turned their back on her. Classless and stupid, but this wasn't the first time a group of people who found themselves morally and logically on the wrong side of an issue refused to relent and admit their error.

The book concludes with a bonus chapter about the Olympics, decrying Brandi Chastain (yes, she is more famous for taking her shirt off than for being a great player, but when you've posed naked for ESPN the magazine the ground to stand on is a bit thin) and Canada's morally bankrupt team of thugs (hopefully people have woken up to the fact that the stereotype of Canadians being uniformly polite is one of the most ludicrous and baseless ideas around) that caps the experience in nearly real time, with a readable style consistent throughout the text.

Hope's the best goalkeeper there is, and perhaps ever was, but she comes off as a difficult person who does not find fault in herself as readily as she finds it in others. It's an interesting read for sure, but I think Hope's reign as my favorite soccer player is at a close. (less)

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Aug 15, 2012 Courtney rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: EVERYONE

There is much to be said about this outspoken goal keeper for the US Women’s National Team. Some people will describe her as selfish, some as too outgoing. People say she needs to keep her comments to herself. To me, she is an amazing goal keeper who says the things many people think, but are too afraid to say, and doesn’t care what the media says about her. Why should she? She is an Olympic gold medalist – more than once, and the greatest goal keeper in the world. In her autobiography, you, as...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Anna Christopherson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hope Solo’s memoir, Solo a Memoir of Hope, is about the trials and tribulations Hope Solo, the main character and goalkeeper for the United States Women’s National Soccer Team, has gone through throughout her life from a little girl to being the best women’s goalkeeper in the world. Hope wrote the book to share her life story with world and set the record straight. From a young age she had a very complicated relationship with her father that was filled with love. At points he kidnapped her and h...more Hope Solo’s memoir, Solo a Memoir of Hope, is about the trials and tribulations Hope Solo, the main character and goalkeeper for the United States Women’s National Soccer Team, has gone through throughout her life from a little girl to being the best women’s goalkeeper in the world. Hope wrote the book to share her life story with world and set the record straight. From a young age she had a very complicated relationship with her father that was filled with love. At points he kidnapped her and her brother, went to jail, showed up randomly at the house, lived in the woods, lived on the streets, and had been suspected of murder. In Hope’s life in general soccer seemed to be the only truly stable thing and she ends up realizing it could potentially take her far in life. Fast forward to the 2007 Women’s World Cup. Hope’s father just passed away, but will be with her “in the goal” for the games. Coach Greg Ryan benched Hope Solo for the semi-final game against Brazil. After the game Hope did an interview and stated her opinion that would end up putting her career on the line. Then from there for the most part soccer went back to being stable by winning gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, recovering from shoulder surgery in time to take home silver in the 2011 Women’s World Cup, and then winning gold in the 2012 London Olympics.

I found this book to be very addicting and hard to put down at times. Some parts of her life I knew but I enjoyed learning new things as well, and in some
cases the real “truth”. If you are a sports fan or have a passion for soccer I highly recommend it. It has a good balance between life and soccer which helps with the dialogue. The plot and how there is this flow from each event that occurs in her life just adds to the book. There is very strong voice and diction especially at intense moments. The tone changed well depending on the mood. Throughout the whole entire memoir these things create it to seem just like Hope. The final chapter is actually online. It is all about the 2012 London Olympics. On the very last page she left the memoir wide open. I can only hope that maybe once she retires Hope will release another type of memoir or book wrapping up her career. At the same time I don’t want Hope to retire anytime soon.
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Nov 19, 2012 Ciara rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lover, A fighter, A goalkeeper:

I have not yet completed the book but I am about halfway through it. As of now it is extremely shocking, I would never have guessed what Hope Solo has gone through in her life time. She is one tough cookie, having to deal with her dad's issues and fight for a starting spot on the U.S. National team. She has to make decisions and it is a truely inpirational story.
The book so far is a great read, it gives details on everythings placing a vivid picture in your mind...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Neville rated it 5 of 5 stars

Soon after her father suddenly passed away, an emotionally fragile Hope Solo started writing letters to him. In one, she wrote, "Tomorrow I'll tell your story, Dad. I will tell it loud and proud and people all around the world will know my dad."

In many ways, this book, 'A Memoir of Hope,' is a tribute to her late father, whom she knew as Gerry Solo, a man with a mysterious past, who floated in and out of her life. At times when he was homeless, Hope would visit him in the woods. Late in his life...more Soon after her father suddenly passed away, an emotionally fragile Hope Solo started writing letters to him. In one, she wrote, "Tomorrow I'll tell your story, Dad. I will tell it loud and proud and people all around the world will know my dad."

In many ways, this book, 'A Memoir of Hope,' is a tribute to her late father, whom she knew as Gerry Solo, a man with a mysterious past, who floated in and out of her life. At times when he was homeless, Hope would visit him in the woods. Late in his life he was falsely accused of murder, yet his doting daughter, whom he lovingly called his 'Baby Hope,' never fell out of love with him. Through all the struggles, through all the games, Hope's father was her biggest supporter 'who taught me to never give up.'

You'll learn in this memoir that the world's greatest goalkeeper did not have a fairy tale upbringing, or charmed life. That the path to the women's soccer World Cup and an Olympic Medal is not paved with gold, or even nice people.

At a young age, she discovered playing soccer was the perfect outlet, a sanctuary from family troubles, and she excelled at it. Hope writes about her journey, from Richland, Washington, where she was born, through the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, where the U.S. team lost 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out. Yet Hope won the 'Golden Glove' for best goalkeeper and 'Bronze Ball' award for overall performer.

Like most professional sports, there's the backstabbing and politics, and Hope spares no one in her frank account of maltreatment behind the scenes. There once was rivalry between veterans in the women's soccer team and the fresh talent, like Hope. But she endured to outlive a dysfunctional coach and became part of an outstanding team under the capable leadership of Pia Sundhage, whose been the U.S. women's national soccer team head coach since 2008.

This memoir is remarkable for it's honesty. Hope reveals many private moments and family secrets. It's not just about becoming a sports star, but about overcoming adversity and challenges. About the unconditional love of family, of friends, endurance and Hope.(less)

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Aug 27, 2012 Jess Kogel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: beat-makers

I came into this read not knowing where it would take me as previous players (Akers, Hamm, etc), didn't get too deep and bare all their demons. I was strongly surprised and refreshed by how relatable and honest Solo is. Where most girls would look at her past as feel sorry, I look at her past as looking in the mirror at myself and how I became the person I am today much like herself. Her raw and straight to the point manner is on point so that you aren't misguided by too much detail but you are...more

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Oct 29, 2012 katrina council rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

After reading this book, I am not sure if I am a fan of hers anymore. Yes I admire her ability to rise up and become one of the greatest goalies ever. She makes it seem as if her family was the worst and she had the worse childhood. She had an entire community rally behind her to make sure her dreams came true. The book was a little boring and read like a gossip magazine. There wasn't a whole lot of substance. Yes we understand your life was rough, but the fact that she stated that 50 thousand t...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Susanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, non-fiction, sports, books-i-own

I debated docking this a star for the occasional moments when Hope's perspective doesn't really allow her to accept other viewpoints or see the negatives of some of her own actions. But this book is a memoir- of course it's biased, of course Hope calls things exactly as she sees them. Every story has (at least) two sides, and Hope never claims to present more than one of them. I feel the onus is on the reader to read her accounts of events with a critical eye.

I was surprised by how moved I was r...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Tanya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books, memoirs-and-biographies

When Hope Solo makes a statement, she doesn't make apologies, she just reveals how she sees the situation and leaves it at that. I love how she is such a hard worker. I didn't love how she drank at a young age and then felt singled out and made an example of because if you take the risk, you must be willing to accept the consequences. I love how she adored her father unconditionally and how she was always his "Baby Hope."

I wish there were more photos, but I mostly liked the ones that were there....more
When Hope Solo makes a statement, she doesn't make apologies, she just reveals how she sees the situation and leaves it at that. I love how she is such a hard worker. I didn't love how she drank at a young age and then felt singled out and made an example of because if you take the risk, you must be willing to accept the consequences. I love how she adored her father unconditionally and how she was always his "Baby Hope."

I wish there were more photos, but I mostly liked the ones that were there. I definitely cannot show them to my daughters at this point as one shows her flipping the birdie and another shows her fully nude in profile.

I definitely liked the soccer and controversy part of the book more than her background and the little bit of information about DWTS. I think the background info was helpful insofar as providing insight as to why she acts how she acts and says what she says, and it's definitely helpful with understanding her relationships, particularly with her father. The book just flows better during the soccer portion, which may be due to the benefit of assistance by Ann Killion who is a sportswriter.

I knew very little about the 2007 controversy and very little about the upbringing of Hope Solo, but she enamored my kids On Dancing with the Stars and the US Olympic team, so i wanted to learn more about her. She is tough and I felt like she finally had the need to reveal some of her secrets which she previously has no comment and may have been judged by her peers. The situation with the 2007 team was appalling and I do believe that women band together and forget to be a team, especially if there may be some jealousy involved or a perceived threat. It's sad, and I do believe the negative feelings were very real and very overwhelming for all parties involved.

She wrote, "[a teammate] spoke on and on about the team, the team, the team, missing the irony in her words. If we were such a team, why weren't my teammates willing to pick me up? I made a mistake and I apologized. Why couldn't they reach out a hand and say, 'We're pissed at you. You F*d up. We think you're a terrible person. But you're still our teammate.' Only Carli reached out to me My other longtime friends were treating me as though I was dead." Oh, geez...this is the problem with women that start hating on other woman, the whole group goes along and just seeps poison, the exception being the one buddy (if you're lucky) who will see the situation for what it is and accept that there needs to be a way to move productively and peacefully forward. She was so very lucky she had one friend who was willing to reach out to her, even at great risk to herself. Hope was lucky she was not alone---I don't think a younger girl, if this had happened in high school sports, would have fared so well if she'd misspoken and the ganged up against her.

I would have liked to have read more about her conversations with each of the coaches that had a positive influence on her. For example, Brett had words of wisdom and he was a "tough guy, a demanding coach, but he had a forgiving heart. He told [her] that [she] was in a shitty situation but cold learn from it...hard times could mold greatness. 'If you have to go through this, at least get something out of it.'" And Coach Pia, who took over the team when Coach Greg Ryan was fired, told her, "'I don't know what happened, and I don't know if I want to know what happened...but in the end, we move on. I'm not making the choice for you. You have to make the choice whether you're on board...I want you to trust me...Let's look forward instead of back.'" Great coaches are so inspirational and that's why I wish there were more quotes of conversations with the coaches that were instrumental in guiding her success. I like to focus on the positive and the detailed description of the problems with her one coach and her teammates was such a downer.

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Oct 31, 2012 Clayton O rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is very compelling. Hope puts her life in her own words and does an amazing job at that. When I heard about this book I thought to myself that it would be a regular biography. It is much, much more. Hope is a girl that most people can relate to. She was caught drinking, when she was a senior in high school. She was constantly fighting with her brother and parents. She shows that she is not perfect. Also she went against team rules and talked to the press about the World Cup loss. She w...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Craig Buno rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-from-library, football-soccer, biography, american-culture

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Amazing, I had always been on the fence about Hope Solo and thought that she had a bit of an attitude and walked around with swagger. But this book has definitely won me over, it gives great insight into her personality and her younger years. I never knew that she started her career as a forward setting goal scoring records for her high school. She did not come from wealth and a lot of the community helped her pay for Olympic development and travel teams.

This book not only focuses on how her so...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book really brought interest to me because it was about soccer and someone who I felt is a role model to me. It talked about Hope Solos feelings, and point of view. It gave me a new view on the game of soccer and I learned so much. It talked about the meaning of life, and what it really is meant for. That you have to put in all of your effort and strive to succeed. Even if you lose, you can still be a winner. Soccer is her life, but there also is that part of her that could care less about...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Hil rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is surprisingly well written for an athlete bio and while often shocking (the story of the 2007 World Cup wasn't even on my top five shockers despite it dominating sports press on this book) what really was holding it all together was the strange, triangular relationship of Hope, her father, and soccer. If you want a tell-all about the USWNT there are things told here and there, but the majority of it is a family story in all of its often brutal detail but never without moments of happ...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hope Solo had a rough childhood living with her abusive brother, ex con father who was never home , and her loving mother who tried to support her family the best that she could. In Hope's memoir, you learn the truth about her childhood filled with painful memories that helped create the person she is today. In this book, you learn about Hopes determination to follow her dreams and never give up hope. She is not afraid to speak her mind ,and uses her confidence and self pride to overcome her tou...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have, at various times in my life, loved and despised Hope Solo, though not necessarily in that order. Having read her autobiography, I have come back to a place of respect and at least feel like I understand a little better what makes her tick.

This was an unusually well written celebrity bio, one that doesn't just read like a media guide, but which has some nice language, a good sense of pacing and story arc, and a lot of insight. Hope Solo isn't afraid to let the warts show, even if it seems...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Dachokie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

Understandably Outspoken …

Prior to the 2012 Olympics, my only familiarity of Hope Solo is that she was a current member (goalie) of the athletic juggernaut also known as the US Women’s Soccer Team. Honestly, my interest in women’s soccer peaked and waned with the 1999 Women’s World Cup team and I don’t watch “Dancing with the Stars”, but Hope Solo grabbed my attention with the news of her candid tweeting during the past summer Olympics … especially her audacious jab at Brandi Chastain, the poste...more Understandably Outspoken …

Prior to the 2012 Olympics, my only familiarity of Hope Solo is that she was a current member (goalie) of the athletic juggernaut also known as the US Women’s Soccer Team. Honestly, my interest in women’s soccer peaked and waned with the 1999 Women’s World Cup team and I don’t watch “Dancing with the Stars”, but Hope Solo grabbed my attention with the news of her candid tweeting during the past summer Olympics … especially her audacious jab at Brandi Chastain, the poster-child of that ’99 team. With the media painting her as yet another spoiled, outspoken, but gifted trouble-maker athlete; I was thrilled at the timely release of Hope’s autobiography: SOLO: A MEMOIR OF HOPE. While my original expectations of the book being nothing more than an assembly of girlie tabloid-like sports fodder, I quickly found myself immersed in a cathartic soul-bearing chronicle of deeply passionate individual whose complicated family life serves as her ultimate strength.

Hope Solo is often portrayed as being stunningly beautiful, remarkably talented … and an opinioned loudmouth. Seems fair … at least that’s how I felt after reading about the uproar over her comments this past Olympics; it is also a superficial characterization. Unlike most athletes that utilize their moment of fame (or infamy in some cases) as a cash cow opportunity, SOLO: A MEMOIR OF HOPE seems more an attempt to draw people into discovering who Hope Solo REALLY is and not what she appears to be. Yes, a mini-scandal during the Olympics is a great selling tool (it got me to buy the book), but her deeply personal story proved to be an interesting, emotional and rewarding read.

A relatively young athlete releases an autobiography while competing in the Olympics obviously means a chapter is missing and the story is incomplete. Well, maybe not. While future editions of SOLO may be supplemented with a chapter that recaps the trials and tribulations of winning another Olympic gold medal, most readers will likely discover such a chapter really isn’t necessary. I felt the purpose of Hope Solo’s memoir was less about self-promotion and more about releasing. The storyline is interesting, engaging and detailed in a manner that provides clarity without sacrificing the book’s reading flow (which is somewhat fast). While soccer may seem to be the logical focus of Solo’s memoir (it IS what made her famous enough to write the book), Solo’s relationship with her family (more specifically, her father) is what takes center stage in this memoir. It’s the rather complex and non-traditional father-daughter relationship that serves as the source of Solo’s resolve, fortitude and outspoken nature that makes her the soccer superstar she is, but also accounts for the troubles she’s encountered throughout her career. I found the stories of her family life dating back to her childhood to be sincerely written, but painful to read about. There is plenty of soccer drama too. All the ups-and-downs with winning and losing are documented, as well all the conflicts with coaches and teammates over the years (especially the “old guard” from the ’99 squad). What is refreshing is that I found Solo to be believably honest in her recollections of the more negative aspects of her soccer career. And while the ego of a world-class athlete is relatively hard to hide in autobiography, Solo reveals herself to be a sensitive and tender individual with her own insecurities … just like everyone else.

I am glad I read this book. I honestly would not have given a second thought to Hope Solo after the Olympics had it not been for the hoopla over her tweets to Brandi Chastain. Reading SOLO explained (and even justified) much of this young athlete’s behavior/attitude and revealed a much more complex and interesting individual than I expected. Hope Solo’s book not only forced me to respect her, but turned me into a big fan as well.
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Sep 11, 2012 Leah Hortin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

I read this book because I'm interested in soccer and Hope Solo is from Washington State and went to a rival university. I've also read a couple of other athlete-memoirs and enjoy them. I had high hopes for this book but it fell a little flat for me. The first half was pretty painful to get through but the second half was significantly better. I didn't care for her writing style - it was very choppy and matter-of-fact with a random well-written, maybe even eloquent, sentence thrown in here and t...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting to hear her take of the story of when coach Greg Ryan benched her for Brianna Scurry, but I always got the feeling that this account was (not surprisingly) pretty one-sided.

Solo comes off as a dedicated, committed, driven athlete who was sometimes pretty selfish and catty to her teammates (sometimes, perhaps, without meaning to be). She attempts to engender sympathy, but there were definitely points in the book where my gut reaction was that she was acting like a brat.

All in all, not...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Char rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're a fan of the US Women's National Soccer Team, this is a must-read. Hope reveals anything and everything and it's quite an eye-opener. Kristine Lilly and Greg Ryan came off the worst along with her Dancing With the Stars partner, Maks (he slapped her! Are you fucking kidding me?). It was interesting to read about her relationship with Abby Wambach and how Hope felt ostracized at first and then went on to patch things between them.

Great to get an insight as to what makes her tick and the...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting read, though at times a little too self-indulgent...Solo is an amazing athlete, and shows how her less than glamorous childhood and home life contributed to her tenacity and outspokenness...I was, however, a little surprised at how long the team continued to admonish her after the incident with her then coach, Greg Ryan, when she basically lambasted him in the press for using Brianna Scurry over her in the World Cup Final back in 2007. Didn't realize professional athletes were the...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Lee Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I got this book because I really enjoyed watching the U.S women's soccer team play in the Olympics. So when I figured out that she had a book coming out I had to read it. You don't even have to like soccer or sports to enjoy this book. It shows how someone can grow up in such a bad situation and come back to show they can get out of that.
Hope had a problem growing with her dad in and out of prison. Then just left one day and became homeless. Another difficult time was in the Olympics in 2004 she...more

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Oct 10, 2012 William Crosby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Biographies and autobiographies are not my favorite genre. I always wonder how a person can remember so many details about the past. Me, I would not be able to write a bio because I would not be able to remember any details. I wonder if most autobiographies are like "Million Little Pieces" except that Frey was picked by Oprah and she got excessively upset when he probably did what most autobios do: fill in the scenes with a few imagined details.

Anyway, Hope's bio was mostly interesting to read (...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Darcy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, non-fiction

I am pretty ignorant on all things soccer, so when the author talked about the details of the game those things went over my head. I did like hearing more about her life, the struggles she encountered and how by the end she was in a good place. What I really liked was that the author seemed to be a straight shooter, one who speaks the truth even when it isn't pretty. It is too bad that often her comments were taken out of context and used against her. There were times when she was made to be the...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Eliza rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hope Solo is one of the worlds most renowned female soccer players ever. As many saw in the 2007 World Cup, she is not afraid to speak her mind and share her self confidence with us. A great amount may have pegged her as a self-conceited goalkeeper who hasn't any respect for her teammates, but if you read this book, I promise you will change your view. People don't know what her life was really like before and leading up to her incredible professional career. Her childhood was not popsicles and...more

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Mar 16, 2013 07RachelR rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: I find the book "A Memoir Of Hope Solo by Hope Solo and Ann Killion to be very good at teaching kids to never give up on their dreams however, there were areas in which the book was not uite as good of really going into detail on how hard it was for her growing up. This book i think would be good for adults and teens that like soccer and want to know a little bit more about Hope Solo.
I like this book because it made you respect the way Hope acts like the way...more Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: I find the book "A Memoir Of Hope Solo by Hope Solo and Ann Killion to be very good at teaching kids to never give up on their dreams however, there were areas in which the book was not uite as good of really going into detail on how hard it was for her growing up. This book i think would be good for adults and teens that like soccer and want to know a little bit more about Hope Solo.
I like this book because it made you respect the way Hope acts like the way she is the person she is. Most of America thinks she is a stubborn, unapproachable, mean person but if you read this book she will take you through her childhood and went she went through when she was a little kid. Hope would always say that "My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise."

Hope wanted her dad to come back and help support her family, but he couldnt because he was poor and was living on the streets, so it made Hope and her older brother Marcus upset. Hopes mother and step dad Glenn called her into the living room and her step dad had said Hope we dont think you can do ODP this year and her mother added its just too expensive for us at this time. Hope had to quite a year of soccer because they couldnt afford it which kinda brought Hope a step back from the rest of her team mates which Hope hated being the under dog. When Hopes father had passed away it had a major effect on Marcus and Hope, but when Hope found out he had died she was in England training for the world cup. When Hope got back from the viewing and the funeral she flew back to London before the first game of the world cup, right before the game started Hopes coach came up to her and said to her i dont think your emotionaly ready to get your head back into this game we will have a training tomorrow and ill see how you during that to see how you do and ill decide if i want you to play in the second game or not. That just tore Hope apart because she wanted to go out there and just play for her dad no body else just her dad and she couldnt do that.
One day right before one of Hopes comp games she got out of the car and looked over at the forest that was right by the fields and she looks over at her best friend cheryl and says i think thats my father. Hope runs over there and she asks him what are you doing here and he said i need to watch my baby Hope do something she loves. Ever since that game her dad tried his hardest to get to all of her games as possible. One night Hope got a call she didnt know who it was the man on the phone had said Hi Hope this is the U.S womens national teams assitant coach and i am very interested in you i would like you to come to some of our trainings and see how you fit in with all of the girls Hope answered right away saying of course i would love to! After a few practices with the team the coach right away picked her up and Hope was on the team.

As you can see from the evidence above, this book is very good at teaching teens to fallow their dreams and to never give up."My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise."
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Apr 16, 2013 Brittany Bond rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biographies

A good deal of Hope Solo's identity is an outspoken competitor and fierce athlete. She is definitively one of the greatest living athltes (of any gender) alive today.

Few people will be able to relate to more than just tiny commonalities shared with Solo's story because it is a pretty mad-whack one to hear and tell. But there is plenty to admire and even aspire to as far as personal strength and character-building is concerned.

Astonishingly, Hope Solo has managed to deliver her memoir about her...more A good deal of Hope Solo's identity is an outspoken competitor and fierce athlete. She is definitively one of the greatest living athltes (of any gender) alive today.

Few people will be able to relate to more than just tiny commonalities shared with Solo's story because it is a pretty mad-whack one to hear and tell. But there is plenty to admire and even aspire to as far as personal strength and character-building is concerned.

Astonishingly, Hope Solo has managed to deliver her memoir about her crazy life in a realistic yes-I-recognize-how-crazy-this-sounds manner while still coming out the other side a deeper public figure and solidly-grounded personality. Though sometimes reading like a middle-school diary (as excerpts of her diary are in fact included) and often revealing its dual-purpose of public venting of past injuries, the writing is crisp enough and the dwelling short enough to make reading this memoir an engaging conversation throughout. Also, the reader gets to witness authentic personal growth from her youth to young adult to established professional veteran, in the condensed period of simply reading her memoir. Many memoirs are entirely retrospective and mature from the beginning. Solo seems to grow and progress in maturity along with the pages turned by the reader.

Still just as often as not, Solo's actions and comments seem just as unjustified as before she made her case (which can often be boiled down to if this was in a man's arena it would be a non-starter). But few people would not have felt the injuries leading to her backlashes as keenly. Her approach to such obstacles has been a 'why-the-hell would I not say my piece'? Of course, retrospectively, the reader will often wonder whether she would not have come out on top more often had she kept her mouth shut and allowed things to work themselves out.

Her best counter-argument to this questioning comes late in the book, when she makes a clear point about the rapidity of successful team change engendered by the backlash she fomented post Brazil 2007 Olympics.

This book should be on the to-read list of anyone who has ever been the least bit curious about Hope Solo's life. Like Solo herself, her memoir has few rivals among sports-stars or public figures alike.(less)

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Oct 06, 2012 Lyndee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd recommend to those who love or hate Ms. Solo. I have a connection to Hope- We went to the same high school and she was in the same class as my younger sister and brother-in-law. I knew of or personally knew many of the people she named in the section outlining her childhood. I had heard things about her family, probably from people closer to my age who knew her brother, but I was still surprised to learn just how devastating her childhood was. There is major drama here, the stuff that people...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hope Solo provides a look at her life, which is filled with much conflict and complication from a young age. She also provides a look into her rise in soccer and other notable moments (i.e. the fallout from comments she made in 2007 after being benched during the World Cup and her appearance on "Dancing With the Stars.")
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