YA Review: Soul Surfer

Hamilton, B., Bundschuh, R., & Berk, S. (2004). Soul surfer: A true story of faith, family and fighting to get back on the board. New York, NY: MTV Books.

In the autobiography Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton tells her own story of being attacked by a shark and loosing her arm at the age of thirteen. Bethany tells us about the morning of the attack from her perspective. Included in this personal tale are a great many details about what life is like for kids growing up in a rural corner of Hawaii and about what kind of commitment it takes to become a professional athlete. The book is organized into chapters some of which are directly about the shark attack, Bethany’s rescue and surgery and her recovery. The other chapters – interspersed throughout – go into the story of Bethany’s family and how they ended up in Hawaii, Bethany’s faith and what it is like, “being kind of famous” (p. 155).

Although, I had heard a tiny amount about a surfing teenager from Hawaii who had lost her arm to a shark, I went into this book knowing little more than those scant details. For me the book reads as if Bethany was sitting right next to me telling her story and I would not be surprised to learn that the book was written from recorded interviews. As Bethany described the morning of the attack I felt like I was right there floating on a board in the water next to her which was both thrilling and a little creepy, “The waves were small and inconsistent, and I was just kind of rolling along with them, relaxing on my board with my right hand on the nose of the board and my left arm dangling in the cool water. I remember thinking, ‘I hope the surf picks up soon…,’ when suddenly there was a flash of gray.” (p. 3) Every detail about that morning seemed gripping to me and I was completely fascinated by how Bethany managed to get back to the beach and how her friends helped her get to the hospital.

There were times when the book veered off into territory that wasn’t as interesting to me – details about Bethany’s favorite foods and activities, for example - but overall I found the description of life on rural Kauai to be completely fascinating. As I read the book, the details about Bethany’s working class family and her parents dedication to helping their daughter achieve her surfing dreams blew away all of my assumptions about what kind of people become professional athletes. I had thought that for sure you had to be pretty well off financially to be able to focus so early on a sport, but at least in Bethany’s case I was wrong and my respect for Bethany and her family and their commitment to her career grew. One part of the book that I really appreciated was Bethany’s honest discussion of her faith and how it helped her through the loss of her arm. Most discussion of faith that I can remember reading in contemporary popular writing is heavily ironic or cynical. I was struck by Bethany’s openness and honesty about how her faith in God comforts and motivates her. Personally, faith is important to me and I found it refreshing to encounter a young woman who also finds real practical courage from her belief.