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Summary
Summary
The "American Sniper" legacy continues: Taya Kyle celebrates the American Spirit in her inspiring new book
Life leads us through difficult terrain. But what happens if you use challenge as an opportunity to discover your PURPOSE? These Americans did and are changing the world.
After losing her husband, "American Sniper" Chris Kyle, bestselling author Taya Kyle entered a period of deep grief. And yet the experience served as a catalyst for profound growth. Taya found her own reserve of strength with the help of the generous love and support of family and friends--and also many strangers across America, who selflessly shared their own stories of suffering, survival, and triumph. Inspired by her experience, Taya discovered her calling: spreading a message of how love, passion, and service can combine to help us persevere over personal pain and heal our communities.
Working with trusted collaborator Jim DeFelice (coauthor of American Sniper and American Wife), Taya tells her own story, as well as those of other Americans who have built extraordinary lives after traveling down life's most difficult roads--through loss, illness, all manner of setback. They embody the "American spirit" of resilience, faith, togetherness that has built the nation.
American Spirit profiles more than 30 individuals, young and old, rich and not-so-rich, famous and unknown, who have overcome hardship and done extraordinary things for their communities and for the nation at large. The 9/11 survivor, badly burned over 60% of his body, who asked himself What debt do I owe to God? And to my fellow human beings? What am I supposed to do with this miracle of survival? The man with the hole in his heart who runs ultramarathons. The young cancer victim whose lemonade stand inspired a revolutionary new model for fighting cancer. The blind cyclist; the pastor who became an undercover investigator, and more.
In the end, these stories teach us how to find purpose and heal the world, no matter the difficulty. "Every action, big or small," Taya writes, "has the potential to spark someone else's movement."
Author Notes
Taya Kyle founded the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, devoted to strengthening the marriages of veterans and first responders, in honor of her late husband Chris Kyle, legendary U.S. Navy SEAL and author of the bestsellers American Sniper and American Gun.
Taya Kyle is the author of American Wife, which is a New York Times and Publisher's Weekly bestseller.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Kyle follows up American Wife, about her Navy SEAL husband Chris Kyle (author of American Sniper), with this moving and passionate collection of essays in which she shares her experiences with people she has met as a public speaker. At events, she writes, strangers told her "stories about the good things their neighbors are doing, accounts of how they were helped or inspired by others." Kyle focuses on 30 of those "tales of heroism" in an effort to show the power of the American spirit and "brighten a sometimes very dark world." Writing with DeFelice, who coauthored both her and her husband's previous books, Kyle includes stories from a young girl suffering from cancer whose idea of raising money for research by having a lemonade stand in her hospital led to a million-dollar foundation for childhood cancer; a blind veteran whose work with disabled bike riders inspired a volunteer organization that takes blind bikers on rides through New York City; and another vet whose individual efforts to help the homeless led to the formation of a California nonprofit. Once again, Kyle and DeFelice inspire with touching stories of compassion. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A cheerily aspirational celebration of Americans who are making a difference.At the beginning of their latest collaboration, Kyle, widow of "American sniper" Chris Kyle, and DeFelice (co-authors: American Wife: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith, and Renewal, 2015) proclaim that "the pioneer spirit built America," with apologies to the Native and African peoples who paid the bill ("there is much we regret in retrospect"). Just what that spirit constitutes is a little fuzzy, but the phrase seems to translate as community-building altruism, its proponents "doing their own part to bring order to chaos and to show up for other people." Allowing that clichs such as "our kids are our future" are just that, clichs, the authors argue that the pioneer spirit is built on the premise that we sacrifice now for a better future. You might not know it from the behavior of the boomers and Gen Xers, but as for the kids themselves, many are doing important things. One example is Alexandra Scott, a victim of neuroblastoma who used part of her short life to operate a lemonade stand that raised thousands of dollars to help children like herand, now that she's passed, the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer raises millions. "All of this," write the authors, "because one little girl decided to open a lemonade stand in her front yardand because thousands of other kids decided to copy her." The authors also discuss the work of veteran Micah Fink, a New Yorker who takes fellow veterans on horseback rides in the Montana wilderness to work through PTSD and "guilt at not being O.K.,' whatever that means." Other profiles concern an autistic Appalachian Trail hiker and a blind marathon runner, with many others centering on veterans of recent wars.Though a rather ordinary book, the narrative is relentlessly optimistic and a good source of ideas for merit badge projects. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Table of Contents
| Introduction Hoping | |
| The Pioneer Spirit Lives On | p. 3 |
| 1 Growing a Future | |
| Our Kids as the Future | p. 11 |
| Trick, Treat, Triumph: Nick Blair | p. 13 |
| When Life Gave Him Cancer, He Made Lemonade: Ulises | p. 16 |
| Toward a Sweetish Cure: Alex's Lemonade Stand | p. 20 |
| The "Sweet Feet" Girls: Caressa and Marlee | p. 32 |
| Everyone Deserves a Family: Jim and Lori Word | p. 36 |
| Not Abandoned: Dream Makers | p. 43 |
| 2 Getting Them There | |
| Movers and Shakers | p. 53 |
| Soaring for Others: Angel Flight West | p. 55 |
| Bound for Glory-and Service: Brandon Gosselin | p. 66 |
| The Easy Way Kills You: Micah Fink | p. 78 |
| High Risk, Higher Reward: GearUp | p. 86 |
| 3 To Help Others | |
| Being Different | p. 93 |
| Getting Past Barriers: Jesse Saperstein | p. 95 |
| The Blind Bikers of Central Park: InTandem | p. 104 |
| You Belong Here: Brian Blackwell | p. 115 |
| Flipping the Pig: Amanda Kloo | p. 121 |
| Called to Be a Hero: Mona Ratelle | p. 130 |
| 4 Moving Past Grief | |
| Beyond Our Burdens | p. 137 |
| Finding Meaning in Loss: Lorraine Ash | p. 141 |
| Don't Be Inspired; Be Exceptional: Barbara Allen | p. 153 |
| Helping Families Recover: Erin's House | p. 164 |
| 5 A Roof Over Their Heads | |
| Giving Shelter | p. 175 |
| Little Houses, Big Hearts: Safe Haven | p. 177 |
| Get Up, Suit Up, Show Up: Solutions for Change | p. 184 |
| He's So Fly: Melanie and Marcus Luttrell | p. 198 |
| 6 Giving Back | |
| What Do We Owe? | p. 205 |
| Partying for Hope: Jay and Amy Novacek | p. 207 |
| MVP at Giving Dysphagia: Randall Telfer | p. 212 |
| Tie One on for a Cause: Dhani Jones | p. 216 |
| Bad-ass with a Heart of Gold: Jesse James | p. 221 |
| Summer Song: Zac Brown and Camp Southern Ground | p. 227 |
| Junking for Joy: Amie and Jolie Sikes | p. 232 |
| 7 Honor, Memory, and Angels | |
| Precious Resources | p. 239 |
| Honor and Heal: Veterans Memorial Museum | p. 241 |
| Perseverance and Remembrance: Kim Roller and the Indy | p. 251 |
| For Kids and Country: Angels of America's Fallen | p. 258 |
| Mr. Perseverance: David Goggins | p. 267 |
| 8 Belief | |
| Matters of Faith | p. 277 |
| Lead with Love: The Collins Family | p. 279 |
| Out of the Fire: Mel and Brian Birdwell | p. 291 |
| 9 Spirit's Wings | |
| Without Boundaries | p. 307 |
| Into Satan's Lair: The Exodus Road | p. 309 |
| Pioneer Abroad: Leslie Schweitzer | p. 322 |
| 10 CKFF | |
| My Motto and Goal: Do More | p. 335 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 347 |
