Soul Surfer

The opening line of the Preface is, “To be honest, I never wanted to write a book” (xiii), and that simple statement tells the reader a great deal about the author, Bethany Hamilton. Hamilton is an unassuming and humble girl who, while a fiercely competitive athlete, never sought the spotlight, and certainly never intended to become an author. However, because her story was reported on television around the world, Hamilton has an opportunity to share her story in a book, and she does this, she tells the reader, because she hopes her story will help others overcome their own challenges.

In the Preface, Bethany Hamilton credits her two co-authors, Sheryl Berk and Rick Bundschuh, her editor, and her family and friends, for helping her put her thoughts about her accident on paper. At the heart of the book is a universal question that everyone wrestles with at some point in life: Why do bad things happen to good people? Hamilton’s objective in writing the book, she says, is to use what happened to her to show people “that God is worthy of our trust” and that “you can go on and do wonderful things in spite of terrible events that happen” (xvi).