Book Life Prize Review
Title: Weeds To Wishes: Blossoming into the Leader You Are Meant to Be
Author: Sheryl Brown
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Audience: Adult
Word Count: 45,450
Assessment:
Character/Execution: Brown delivers a memoir that is both interesting and useful. Readers will enjoy her stories—and they will find valuable advice on leadership in the sections of the book offering reflections, takeaways, and practical exercises.
Plot/Idea: The book distills practical advice on leadership through compelling personal stories. Grounded in the titular metaphor—weeds are the challenges we face; wishes are our vision—the author offers up eight keys for success as a team leader drawn from her life and work as a school principal in Ohio.
Prose: Weeds to Wishes is soundly organized, ideas presented in a manner that is clear, helpful, and friendly. The personal stories are well told, fascinating, applicable to the material, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Originality: While the advice offered here will be vaguely familiar to readers, the author presents it in an original manner via the structure of the book and the extended weed/wishes metaphor. Additionally, the personal stories elevate the book and will have readers turning pages.