Soul Surfer
Bethany Hamilton, Rick Bundschuh, Sheryl Berk 
Novel
march 2019

this novel, “soul surfer” written by Bethany Hamilton, Rick Bundschuh, Sheryl Berk is a true story told from the first-person perspective of a girl called Bethany Hamilton who has a huge passion for surfing. this passion for surfing is later forced to come to an unexpected halt due to a major surfing accident involving the attack of a 14-foot long tiger shark. this dreadful attack left her not only mentally scarred but left her with only one arm. she tells her story of her journey about her life before the accident, during and after showing the reader how she stayed positive in these tough times and how she came over her mental barriers presented by the attack and start surfing again.

the characters i found interesting within this novel were Bethany herself but also her parents. the reason in found Bethany’s parents interesting was because of how motivating and supporting they are towards Bethany which is what kept driving her love for surfing further and further. i believe that one of the main reasons why Bethany was able to sustain a positive attitude during times of difficulty, achieve such amazing accomplishments and become such a successful person in and out of the surfing scene to was because of her parents and how they drove Bethany’s love for surfing beyond expectation even when her career seemed to have come to an abrupt end. it was the positive support, care and determination that gave Bethany the opportunity to pursue her career no matter the circumstance. To me, this really emphasises how much positive support and motivation of close family and friends can drive you to success even when you might not believe you are capable of achieving it. this is quite interesting since I have experienced this myself to some degree. when I was about 12 years old and had to give up rugby because of a problem with my hip since the contact was too much. at this point, I felt that there was nothing left I could play and lost motivation to stay active and participate in social sports until my Mum gave me the support I needed to become motivated again and helped me gain the courage to sign up to the local soccer club which I began to enjoy. this is why I find bethanys parents quite interesting characters within this novel.

messages I took from this novel were very relevant to me as a teenager because it displays the ability of an individual to push through difficult times and hardship with a constant positive attitude. this is relevant since often as teenagers we feel as if life is unfair and all the odds are against us. it is vital in order to successfully grown into a strong-minded adult you must have this attitude and positive outlook to push through hardship and overcome difficult times. this attitude and mindset is displayed strongly by the main character of this book Bethany when she quotes “I’ve learned life is a lot like surfing. When you get caught in the impact zone, you need to get right back up, because you never know what’s over the next wave……and if you have faith, anything is possible, anything at all.” this quote shows how she gets back up out of the “impact zone” pushes through what seems to be something impossible and comes out on the other side unscathed as if nothing ever happened. this portrays a very powerful message to not only me but everyone that reads the text and is important that this message is analysed and not looked past.

it is obvious to the reader that the main challenge presented and overcome within the story is Bethany overcoming her shark attack incident and pushing through to carry on her surfing career. Bethany’s life was what some would call life in paradise, living in a remote island in Hawaii, surfing every day all day long, what more could you ask for. But this dream life in paradise took a sudden turn for the worse when she was attacked by the 14 foot-long shark and lost her arm. her dreams of becoming a professional surfer were completely crushed and there seemed to be no hope left. but she wasn’t going to let this ruin her career, so through faith, hope and determination, she overcame such a significant challenge.

personally i would definitely recommend this book to everyone of all ages because of the strong message of determination. determination is a vital quality to inhibit throughout life because it has the ability to push you through the toughest times even when you feel as if there is no way. this is why i would strongly recommend all to read this novel since it would truly make you appreciate how lucky you are and show you it is possible to overcome even the most difficult things in life.