Surfing Past Fear

by Bethany Hamilton, Martín Morón (Illustrator)

When Olivia breaks her arm, she’s sure that will end her summer of surfing.

But a fellow surfer at the beach thinks otherwise. With the help of her friends, Olivia learns to face her fears and gets back on the board. Follow this little otter as she learns to resist fearful thoughts, and then explore this topic with your family through the activities in the BRAVE Challenge at the end of the book.

Genres: Picture Books

Paperback

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bright, fun pictures!

A good story about facing your fears, even if you fail at first. With friends and good advice by your side. Rule your fears, don't let them rule you.

Written by a surfer whose arm was bitten off by a shark, but didn't let the fear swallow her. She became an award winning surfer.

Maybe a book about healthy fears, and deciding if something is worth the risk, would be a good follow-up?

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. I have liked the other books in this series. And the author was the woman who lost her arm when she was surfing in a shark attack. I do think sometimes you need to face your fears, but I think it's very rational to be afraid of surfing. It can be very, very dangerous. So sending a message to kids that you should face your fears and do something dangerous for fun isn't a message I like. I'm sorry.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia breaks her arm while training to compete in the surfing competition, and becomes fearful and reluctant to ever surf again. But when an one armed beachcomber offers to train her, Olivia accepts his offer, and is soon back in the water.