Fierce love A memoir of family, faith, and purpose

A memoir from the resolute matriarch of a tightknit, dynamic family. In her debut, the author chronicles how her life of faith has buoyed her through good times and bad, including raising three children and founding a Montessori school. Curry begins with an episode of tough love: Her 14-year-old daughter, Sydel, pleads with her to attend a house party, but the house rules stand firm against it. It's a grounding moment in a book that demonstrates the author's resolve to do what's right. She backtracks to her early years living in poverty in a cramped trailer with a funny yet tough, "badass" mother. Though they were harassed by a roving band of KKK members, her family found strength in their staunch Christian faith and in Curry's devotion to a budding talent in sports. While in college at Virginia Tech in the early 1980s, she began dating then-basketball hopeful Dell Curry. When Dell was drafted by the Utah Jazz in 1986, their long-distance relationship continued, and she gave birth to her son Stephen in 1988. After marriage, two more children broadened the family. (Both Steph and his younger brother, Seth, are in the middle of successful NBA careers, and Steph is the all-time leader in three-point field goals made.) With bracing honesty and a wry sense of humor, the author details her semistructured "parenting on the fly" formula, and she articulates her school's unique curriculum of free-form education and Christianity. Throughout, the author is clear about her religious beliefs, quoting Scripture for direction and purpose and showing how her faith has informed all her decisions, from shepherding her sons' athletic ambitions to retiring from the school she founded. Though Curry and her family have faced challenges in recent years, the book ends in 2017. Strength and candor mark this brisk, heartfelt story of faith, resilience, and, of course, basketball. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.