Bethany Hamilton: Follow Your Dreams!

Defining Moments: Overcoming Challenges

by Michael Sandler

Since she was a young girl in Hawaii, Bethany Hamilton dreamed of becoming a professional surfer. Yet those dreams nearly vanished when a shark tore off her left arm. In Bethany Follow Your Dreams!, young readers will follow Bethany's recovery from the devastating shark attack as she retakes the surf and waves. Full-color photographs, timeline, and a compelling biographical narrative will engage readers as they learn how Bethany overcame the greatest challenges of her young life.

Genres: Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Michael Sandler, best-selling author and a leading national learning disability and ADHD expert and coach; columnist and speaker; has both ADHD and Dyslexia and was once told he would never succeed in school. He learned how to work with his cluttered mind, overcoming challenges and negativity while surviving kindergarten through high school and going on to earn several advanced degrees. His lesson is clear you can and will succeed, once you learn how to work with your mind."

Reviews

[Cindy Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can connect to the character Bethany because she was committed to her dreams and never gave up. I'm also somewhat like this. For example, in the story, she was attacked by a tiger shark during surfing. But right after she recovered, she immediately went back to the ocean and continued surfing. That is why I feel connected to Bethany.

[Maddie Smith]

Today in class, I had my book in my hand. Right before I was going to open it up and start reading away, I gazed around the classroom, and I saw this book. It looked incredibly interesting, so I went and started to read it. After I read a few pages, I think that Bethany (the main character) is a lot like me, but she also reminds me of a person in a video that I saw in health class. When this person was only 8 years old, he fell under a train and his legs got cut off. He didn't really know what to do with himself anymore, because it takes so long to adjust to those kind of changes. But that didn't stop him from doing what he loved. He was a wrestler, and him losing his legs didn't stop him from being a strong and hard opponent to beat. This is the same kind of situation that Bethany was in. After she got her arm eaten off by a tiger shark when she was surfing, she thought that it was pretty much impossible to keep surfing. Until she tried it. Although it did take a while to adjust to, she went back and won all her competitions. Nothing could stop her.

[Ryan WEN · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who persisted in her dreams and continued surfing even when a shark bit one of her arm off.

[DD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but informative... Annabelle's pick

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the facts and photos were interesting, the author screws up terribly by making no mention of Bethany Hamilton's faith. The formatting was also annoying; there was a new "chapter" every two pages. Fans of Ms. Hamilton would do better to stay away from this mess.

[Alex Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used for Final

Growing up in Hawaii, Bethany loved to surf and dreamed of becoming a professional surfer ever since she was a little girl. One day, she was surfing when she was attacked by a tiger shark that took her arm. Her transition back into normal life with only one arm would prove challenging to Bethany. For a while, she was convinced she would never be able to surf again, but she did not let this stop her from wanting to surf. It was her family helped her to get back up on her board after the attack. Both her parents were surfers and she had grown up competing with her two older brothers, this helped her to succeed in surfing at a young age and learn how to surf with only one arm. It was not even one month after the shark attack when Bethany started surfing again, and soon after that she was competing just like she used to. She still dreams of surfing, but now she also aims to help other people learn to cope with their pain or loss and inspire others through her story.

This is a very inspiring and semi-recent incident that some of the students may have heard of. Due to its recent occurrence, there may be many resources that would help prompt students think about the challenges she faced and how she may overcome them physically and emotionally. It would also be a good mini research project for students interested.

[A Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard of Bethany Hamilton before reading this book, but I did not know the details of her life. I love that the book includes photographs of Bethany's parents and a map of the Hawaiian islands, as well as talking about how far the ambulance had to travel after the shark attack and how much blood Bethany had lost by the time she got to the hospital! I think this is a great book for young readers interested in shark attacks. I could see including it in my shark lesson plan. As this book was published 17 years ago, I did a quick google search to see what new information I could find about Bethany; in 2023 she was criticized for being transphobic when she said she would not compete in World Surf League events after a decision was made to allow transwomen to compete in the women's division "if they maintain a testosterone level of less than five nmol/L for at least 12 months".

[Carla hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just screams " NEVER GIVE UP!" This book sounds exactly like the movie "Soul Surfer" where you see the shark bit Bethany. She gets rushed to the hospital and in the hospital she says "through Him who gives me strength". The point is, she never gives up, even through hard times.

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unbelievable true story of a girl whose arm is bitten off by a shark but through sheer determination returns to surfing less than a month later. It shows how your spirit affects your accomplishments.

[Morgan Hagenbuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to introduce nonfiction/biographies to kids.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bethany Hamilton didn’t let a tiger shark bite take away her dream of surfing. 🏄‍♀️ Don’t let anyone take away your dream either!!

[Terry]

The cover originally put off my daughter, but after I started reading the story she moved in closer to see and hear everything. She was very impressed by Bethany's story but found some of the images disturbing.

This is a book to read with your kids at least the first time through. It might not bother a fifth grader, but third graders probably need that shoulder nearby. To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

[Amy Turner]

Reading this version with Hannah

[Sonyarules · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is a very insprational person and I think every one should look up to her

[Kelly Risinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple read. Inspiring character.