cover image Full Out: Lessons in Life and Leadership from America’s Favorite Coach

Full Out: Lessons in Life and Leadership from America’s Favorite Coach

Monica Aldama. Gallery, $28 (256p) ISBN 978-1-982165-91-8

Aldama, from Netflix’s docuseries Cheer, takes her wisdom from the mat to the page in this heartening debut. Using her no-nonsense style, Aldama—who coaches at Navarro College in Corsicana, Tex.—helps readers apply to their own lives the tenets of cheerleading that she’s used to lead her team to win 14 national championships. She advises on how to lead by example (“You can’t try to change other people if you’re not working on yourself”), prepping for success (“A $5 planner can change your life”), getting out of one’s comfort zone (which Aldama was forced to do on Dancing with the Stars last fall), and seeking motivation wherever one goes. She also emphasizes the power of “mat talk”—or cheering for others and oneself (“Are you filling your mind with words of encouragement and self-love?” she asks readers)—and the importance of going “full out,” a term used in cheer to describe “giving everything to the task at hand.” Fans will appreciate the behind-the-scenes accounts she shares of filming the show—including how, after learning not to gasp every time someone did a “hard tumbling pass,” the camera crew “became part of the team’s choreography.” There’s lots to cheer for in Aldama’s upbeat and practical advice. Margaret Riley King, WME Agency. (Jan.)