{"id":656,"date":"2026-03-04T03:51:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/?p=656"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:01:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:01:28","slug":"perfect-10-10-booklife-prize-critics-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/?p=656","title":{"rendered":"Perfect 10\/10 BookLife Prize Critic’s Report!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We entered Daughter of the Leopard<\/em> in four different book contests that were open to indie\/small press books. The first result we’ve gotten back is here: the Critic’s Report from the BookLife Prize Nonfiction (memoir) competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a fabulous Critic’s Report! We received a 10\/10 in every category of analysis, and hence a 10\/10 global score. And a very complimentary review! We are delighted our 12+ years of sincere hard work paid off. So far there are only two publicly-viewable books in the memoir category with that perfect score: our current revealed “tie” for the highest score<\/a> is from an esteemed journalist\/writer, with his family’s Holocaust story. (In this contest, authors decide whether to reveal their reports and scores or keep them hidden.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll find out in coming days if we’re advancing within the Prize judgement system: first will be quarterfinals, then semifinals, then finals, and then one winner across all of nonfiction. With each layer of progress within the contest we get extra review by professionals, and are very excited for the extra visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entire report below, and linked here<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
BookLife Prize - 2025<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Plot\/Idea:<\/strong> 10 out of 10<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Originality:<\/strong> 10 out of 10<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Prose:<\/strong> 10 out of 10<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Character\/Execution:<\/strong> 10 out of 10<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Overall:<\/strong> 10.00 out of 10<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Assessment:<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Plot\/Idea: <\/strong>This is an engaging, revelatory story of a young Kenyan girl, Monique Leparleen, growing up in a culture rapidly shifting between traditional and contemporary ways. Hendricks follows Leparleen through her childhood in 1970s and '80s in Kenya's Samburu County, delivering entertaining\u2014sometimes shocking\u2014and extremely informative stories about Samburu tribal life and culture, against a broader societal backdrop that threatens the tribe's traditional way of living.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Prose: <\/strong>Hendricks writes polished prose dotted with winsome phrasing, such as the description of Leparleen as \"a girl of two often-warring worlds: ancient and modern; a girl of leopards and chalk.\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Originality: <\/strong>Daughter of the Leopard<\/em> delivers a vivid, captivating glimpse of Maasai girlhood unfolding against an atmosphere of rapid sociocultural change.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Character\/Execution: <\/strong>This striking memoir is peppered with characters who linger long after the last page: Leparleen, of course, is delightful, curious, and magnetic; her German shepherd dog, Jimmy, serves as her best friend and fiercest protector; the extraordinary cow, Namada, delivers plenty of comical moments; and family members\u2014like great-grandmother Nkooko and Leparleen's Papa\u2014epitomize heritage, life lessons, and a deep cultural anchor. <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Date Submitted:<\/strong> January 17, 2026<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We entered Daughter of the Leopard in four different book contests that were open to indie\/small press books. The first result we’ve gotten back is here: the Critic’s Report from the BookLife Prize Nonfiction (memoir) competition. What a fabulous Critic’s Report! We received a 10\/10 in every category of analysis, and hence a 10\/10 global […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daughteroftheleopard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}