When I saw that Shaq’s mom had written a memoir I was intrigued. I grew up watching him play basketball but I admired his business acumen. I heard someone close to him speak on a business podcast years ago and I remember them saying that his momma kept him on the straight and narrow when it came to life and business choices. Since that podcast I had wondered how his mom was that influential in his life so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it.

If you’re looking for information about Shaq, you won’t find a lot of it in this book and I liked that. In this book, Lucille shares a lot of her childhood in the South and North as an African American as well as her struggles in young adulthood. I can’t comprehend some of the struggles she dealt with or even the family dynamics she grew up in but it definitely gave me an appreciation for the things God gave me during my formative years.

Lucille does great job of showing her strengths as well as weaknesses and tying it to Scripture. She shares her faith in a conversational way, which I enjoyed and I loved how she saw God throughout her life, not just in the good times but also in the down right awful times. I may not agree with everything she did in her life but I definitely respect her for her perseverance and her ability to keep her faith in God.

If you’re looking for a memoir that’s sports adjacent with great faith themes, I highly recommend While I Have Your Attention.

Very good book. I think the author had her head on straight to give such good counsel. Cudos for such a straight-forward approach to the subjec.t

So inspirational.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

This is such a great memoir and Dr. O’Neal is such an extraordinary woman. I love that this book is focused on her life and her life experiences and not overshadowed by her son’s career and success. She overcame many obstacles, tragedies and struggles and continues to give back. Remarkable woman.

Thank you Nelson Books and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lucille O'Neal is an extraordinary woman. Before reading her story, I didn’t know much about her and only picked up this book because I’m a big fan of Shaq and his vibrant personality. However, Lucille’s story captivated me. It was fascinating to learn about her upbringing and the role she played in shaping Shaquille’s life.

I’m always inspired by stories of people who overcome adversity to make transformative life changes, and Lucille exemplifies this resilience. She is the epitome of a strong woman who knows her goals and makes intentional choices to achieve them.

When I saw this book, I was immediately intrigued, as she is the mother of Shaquille O’Neal, and I wanted to know more about her life. And, what a life it was for her.

Lucille and her siblings were raised by their grandparents after their parents divorced when she was three. During the divorce, their father took them and moved. However, after a few years, Lucille’s mother, Odessa, re-entered their lives. She met Joe Toney, whom was a few years older than her, and at age 17, she became pregnant with Shaq (she had three more). Toney struggled with drug issues and didn’t want to share the responsibility of being a parent. Later, Lucille met Phillip Harrison, and he became the father figure for Shaq. They were married and she was his military spouse traveling around the world with him and the 4 kids! After 28 years, she filed for divorce as they had some struggles in their marriage. But, she persevered and has flourished since. She went to college and got an undergraduate degree and then got a masters degree – both as an adult!

It was really interesting to see how much her family matters to her and the fact that she would do anything for her kids. She didn’t know all the greatness Shaq would eventually do, but as he dove down that path, she was right behind him helping him. After he settled down at LSU, she returned home and was right back to being mom and taking care of the kids and all of their daily activities.

Even though she isn’t heavily involved in religion, she does mention God and praying quite often throughout the book, for her parents and her kids.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and it was an interesting perspective about her life and also knowing that Shaq came from it as well. Not often, do we get these books where the mother or father of a celebrity writes a memoir.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for this ebook advance readers copy.

With that said, this is such a good memoir. As someone who has grown up struggling and has strong roots in Christianity, this book gave me a bit of peace. It’s good to know that you’re not alone.