Inspiring. ( )

This was an interesting little read. I didn't realize going into it that it was a speech that Maria Shriver gave at a graduation. Honestly I didn't even know who she was.
The book was 60% intro and conclusion and only about 40% was big fount stretched out speech. Half the book was her talking about why she is famous and which ones she wanted to be famous for.
Overall a cute graduation gift but more for moms and aunts and teachers than the actual graduates. ( )

This book is based on a speech that Maria Shriver gave to her nephew's high school graduation. There are some good nuggets to think about in this book (like the fact that it's never too late to dust off your dreams), but a few things didn't sit quite right with me. 1) She mentioned a couple of things that her teenagers said to her that seemed very "attitude-y", that seemed to add to Shriver's "identity crisis." Since the reader only sees this on paper, there's no way to see facial expressions, or hear the whole conversation, but it gave me pause that her kids said those things without more two-sided converstation. (Okay, I admit, I'm not a parent!) 2) The poem that was part of the speech seemed a bit Dr. Seuss-ish, and didn't seem to fit with the Kennedy/Shriver image I have. (Imagine Jack Kennedy reading Green Eggs and Ham. Was that a Saturday Night Live sketch?) 3) I couldn't tell at times if Shriver was being serious about her identity crisis concerns, or if she was just trying identify with the masses. While reading this book, sometimes I took her at face value, but sometimes I thought she came across like a whiney privileged person.

Okay, maybe I was in a cynical mood when I read this book, and I may have had a lighter review of it on a different day. ( )

This book is great for graduation and then to refer afterward. It is a copy of a speech that Maria Shriver gave at a graduation. This is a funny and inspiring book. ( )

A gem of a book, reminiscent of Dr. Suess' Oh The Places You'll Go. Wise words for graduating seniors or for anyone questioning who they are and what they want to be. ( )