The bestselling inspirational story of the celebrated teenaged surfer girl who lost her arm in a near-fatal shark attackand triumphantly returned to competitive surfing. On Halloween morning 2003 in Kauai, Hawaiia glorious part of the worldBethany responded to the fourteen-foot shark's stealth attack with the calm of a girl with God on her side. Pushing pain and panic aside, even as she was bleeding profusely, she immediately began to paddle with one arm, focusing on a single thought: "Get to the beach...." She was rushed to the hospital, where coincidentally her father, Tom Hamilton, was about to undergo knee surgery, and Bethany ended up taking his spot in the operating room. When the first thing Bethany wanted to know after surgery was, "When can I surf again?" it became clear that her unfaltering spirit and determination were part of a greater storya tale of courage and faith that this modest and soft-spoken girl would come to share with the world. They say Bethany Hamilton has saltwater in her veins.What else could explain the tremendous passion and dedication that drives her to surf? Nothing could come between her and the waves, and just ten weeks after the horrific accident, Bethany Hamilton returned to surfing competitively in her native Hawaii. Soul Surfer is this extraordinary teenager's retelling of her story in her own courageous voice.