WOLFPACK: How to Come Together,Unleash Our Power,and Change the Game by Abby Wambach (Self-help book

Abby Wambach was a member of the U.S. Women’s National soccer Team, and she played forward. Standing at 5’11”, she was known as an aggressive player who was excellent at heading. She also helped the team win a World Cup in 2015 and two Olympic Gold Medals in 2004 and in 2012. In 2019, Wambach released WOLFPACK to empower women (and others) and provide eight new rules to live life by. This is a short book of only 92 pages. For each rule, Wambach pulls from personal experiences to show the reader how the rule has benefited her or how she learned the rule throughout her life. The book doesn’t only focus on her career as a soccer player, it describes how she found what to do after she retired in 2015. Wambach’s concept is that she wants everyone to be the wolf, not the Little Red Riding Hood of the fable. She wants people to be individuals and fight for what they want for themselves and any future generations to come. Wambach also called the book WOLFPACK because she wants people to surround themselves with a “wolfpack” of people who respect and support them. This mindset reflects the USWNT (U.S. Women’s National Team) fighting for years to get the same respect and facilities as their male counterparts. 

I think the book is worth the read, but I am glad it is so short. I started this book not knowing it was considered a self-help book, which I think is good because I didn’t want to read a self-help book; I just like soccer. Wambach writes that she wants all people to hopefully be able to relate to what she is saying. I think that women may connect more quickly to her messages, but I do think that most people could relate to some of the things she writes about because her beliefs are rather broad. Also, Wambach is vulnerable throughout the book, which makes her more personable and therefore easier to relate to. The extended metaphor referring to the Little Red Riding Hood fable is helpful because it makes the book as a whole more cohesive. Also, having a story that likely everyone knows makes it easier to connect to her values. The people who would like the book the most are probably athletes, especially soccer players, and people who want to change their mentality or are feeling down. The book was a good read for me because I got to learn more about Abby Wambach, and the eight rules she describes can be very helpful in many different parts of life. 

Reviewed by Lily M., Grade 11