Soul Surfer Book Report

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Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board is a memoir written by Bethany Hamilton, with Sheryl Berk and Rick Bundschuh, about Bethany finding faith after loosing an arm from a shark attack. Bethany is a 13-year-old professional surfer who lives in Hawaii. She says when talking about her start of surfing, “By the time I was seven years old I was able to surf and catch waves without my parents’ help.” (pg. 40) This shows how she starts surfing at a young age. Bethany is close with her family and has a strong faith towards God which only increases after the attack. She believes that everything happens for a reason and takes an optimistic outlook on her situation. The story takes place in “Kauai, Hawaii” …show more content…

Most people thought that her surfing career is over, but Bethany has something else in mind. Only two weeks after the attack, Bethany is already teaching herself how to surf with one arm, “I had to learn how to paddle evenly with one arm, and when I felt the wave pick me up, I had to put my hand flat on the center of the deck to get my feet…” (pg. 180-181) This explains the difficulty of surfing with only one hand. Shortly after getting on the board for the first time Bethany exceeded at surfing and continued doing it professional even with a missing arm. When Bethany is describing how it felt to surf after the incident she said, “It’s hard for me to describe the joy I felt after I stood up and rode a wave in for the first time after the attack.” (pg. 181) The attack made Bethany a stronger person and gave her a chance to share her story of faith. She feels like she does fine by herself (and God) and does not need to alter her life around the fact that she lost an arm, “I have a prosthetic arm, but honestly, I never wear it. It just hangs by the window in my room.” This shows how she really doesn’t make big changes in her life because on the attack. Bethany Hamilton is now a inspiration to thousands and she wants to get her message through, having faith is key in getting through hard times in