Olivia's Book Review

Title: Soul Surfer
Author: Bethany Hamilton
Publisher: Pocket Books
Place and Year of Publication: 2004, New York
Number of pages: 213
Where you found the book: School library

Story Review:
This is an autobiography by Bethany Hamilton who was 13 years old when she wrote it. No one can explain Bethany’s passion to surf, even when one arm was gone, nothing could get between her and the ocean waves. When she was attacked, she stayed calm and had only one thought, “get to the beach!”. And when she came out of her surgery the first thing she said was “when can I surf again?” It is easy to tell that Bethany and the waves are meant to be together. This book is called Soul Surfer because when Bethany was attacked, she got right back into the water. And the meaning “soul surfer” in surf speak is “ I surfer who merely surfs for the love of the sport”.

In this book, Bethany talks about how her life was before the attack, and how she made adjustments to lifestyle after the attack. She talks about her family and friends, and most importantly, her faith in Jesus Christ. The main characters are Bethany, her mom and dad, her 2 brothers Noah and Timmy, her best friend Alana Blanchard and Alana’s family.


Christian Perspective:
There is a lot of Christianity in this book because Bethany, and her family, the Blanchard family, and most of her friends are all Christians. Bethany has a every strong relationship with God and she’s proud of it. She said that if God wasn’t with her during the attack, she probably wouldn’t have made it because God kept her calm. Bethany’s mom said that before the attack, they prayed all the time that God would use Bethany in huge ways, and they believe that God used and is still using her through attack. She grew up in a Christian home with Christian friends and family, and she said that even though she was taught about prayer, the bible, and went to youth group regularly, no one could make the decision of accepting Christ for her, because she said that putting your faith in God is something that each person has to do on their own and it’s your own personal relationship with him- a bond that is as unique as a finger print.

Your Thoughts:
I chose this book because I had heard a lot about Bethany Hamilton. I watched the movie and I wanted to see if the movie was accurate to the book. I really loved this book because it’s very inspirational, like in the book for example, she talked to a lot of kids who were missing limbs or had been diagnosed with cancer and after she talked to them they felt better and said that they didn’t need all of their limbs or that they were cancer free. I would recommend this book to people who had something go wrong in their life and I think her words would make them feel better too. I also recommend this book to people who like true inspirational stories.