Reviews

The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure by Caroline Paul

r0b3rta's review

5.0

I won this book via a Goodreads Giveaway. The main audience for this book is young girls and having said that I enjoyed reading this book a lot.

The book contains inspirational quotes, info on adventurous women, journal entries for your adventures, and Caroline Paul's own adventures.

The book deals with sexism, travel, fear, belonging and many other things girls go through (and adults).

It's a very feminist book and a great gift for a Gutsy Girl to start her off in her own adventure.

davidjordan's review

5.0

Ideal for young girls and budding female adventurers, meaning, of course, that I am probably as far removed from the target audience as I can possibly be. Regardless, I still found much to enjoy about this book. I was initially drawn to it because of my positive experience with the author's previous work: Lost Cat. This book was just as entertaining as the other. I am amazed at what an astounding and exciting life Caroline Paul has lived (is living). Her adventures in sea kayaking, paragliding, firefighting, luging, river rafting, and much more are a testament to an incredible life well-lived. I hope every little girl (and a few geezers like me) will have a chance to read this and be inspired by it.

dogtrax's review

4.0

Fun and engaging adventures, with lots of small bios of intrepid women and places for readers to plan and journal adventures ....

amymo73's review

5.0

Meant for girls, I read this book as an adult and feel inspired to find more opportunities to be brave, commit acts of microbravery and just in general be gutsy. Caroline Paul tells 10 tales of misadventure -- times when her acts of bravery didn't turn out the ways in which she planned. Everything from creating a milk cartoon pirate ship as a kid to turning down a spot to climbing the Golden Gate bridge to making, then turning down a spot, on the U.S. National Luge team. First and foremost, they are great stories told with great writing and humor. They include life lessons along with tasks to try (like learning to tie knots or finding the north star), fast bios of courageous women and a journal prompts after each chapter.

In the introduction Paul writes "I hope you learn not how to avoid every hairball situation, but how to navigate your way through them, because challenging yourself is essential to a gutsy girl's life of exhilaration, self-confidence and fun." Sage advice and a reminder we can all use at various times in our lives.

Also this bit of wisdom "Saying This Was Easy so early in the game is always a bad sign." After completing a 20 mile training run today in which the first 5 miles felt easy-breezy I can attest to the validity of this statement.

This is a great book for girls but also a fantastic read for parents, especially parents of girls, or any person who likes humor, good stories and some inspiration to get out of your comfort zone in all kinds of ways.

erinag02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

momey's review

5.0

read after hearing her on fresh air. worth reading

cocoawolf29's review

5.0

This book is a wonderful and inspiring grouping of stories from Caroline Paul's life, each with their own thrills and lessons to be gained from it. Though it is aimed more at younger ages, I still enjoyed it in my early 20s. It's inspiring to hear about her beginning small in her childhood then slowly growing to have some fantastic, scary, and thrilling adventures to teach her how to be brave, caring, and full of girl power. This is a wonderful book for young children and young adults, especially younger girls, just to inspire them to explore, believe in themselves, and find fun and something inspiring even in weird and sometimes desperate times.

riverlasol's review

3.0

When I received this book for my birthday (thanks Dad!) I was excited for sure. The title sounded so strong and I, being a feminist, was overjoyed. I was also partly overjoyed because of the simple fact that it was a book (of course). I took it with me to school the next week and started reading it in my spare class time. However, another book that was extremely intriguing came around (no idea what it was) and I started reading that instead. Then, just this week, which is about 6 months later, I rediscovered this book on my locker shelf (everyone complains about how messy my locker is and this is pretty much proof of that). So, I started reading it in my spare class time again and finished it soon thereafter, since it is a relatively short book. If you are ready to get on your adventure spirit then I would recommend this book.

****

To read the rest of my review, go to my blog:

www.libraryinmymind.com

rouver's review

2.0

Personal anecdotes & adventures had by the author with a sprinkling of facts about famous women. There are sections for journaling and activities that kids can do.

Would be fine for young kids, not really what I was expecting.
Meh.

alyciapais's review

A quick, insomnia fueled read. Caroline Paul has had quite an adventurous life: firefighter, rafting guide, almost professional luger (spelling?), paraglider, etc. I loved the snippets of other real life “gutsy girls” throughout history. And always, Wendy Macnaughton’s art is inspiring!