Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Children’s Publishing for allowing me to read a digital ARC of Bravey (Adapted for Young Readers) by Alexi Pappas. This nonfiction book will be out August 21, 2023. All opinions are my own.

In this memoir, Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker, and writer Alexi Pappas recounts touchstone moments from her life that helped her learn confidence, self-reliance, forgiveness, compassion, and dealing with loss.

I’m torn on this book. Ultimately, I gave it 3 stars. Pappas includes some hard hitting and emotional moments in her life. She is real and blunt about them. For younger readers, this could be a little much. I may suggest this for 7th grade and up because of it. It deals with depression, suicide, grief, pain, confidence, and goal-setting. Each chapter begins with a little inspirational quote, then her story, and ends with a bullet point list of the takeaway from the chapter. I found several poignant points in the book, but I also had a really difficult time staying in the book and not skimming. Pappas is very fond of simile and metaphor and there was almost one in every paragraph. I found it to be a little repetitive and overworked. Younger readers may not pick up on this, but I did early on and it took me out as it felt unnecessary. Overall, it has very important points and I like that it addresses mental health issues, but it wasn’t the easiest read.

I loved hearing the author's story, it was so inspiring! It was so nice to hear about not only her highs and wins, but also her lows and struggles. It really showed how it's okay to not be okay, and was really helpful. This also really showed how it's important to follow your dreams!

I love this book for mature young readers. While this book references themes of mental health and perseverance, this title also covers subjects of suicide and grief. Some subjects could be too mature for young readers and require extra guardians' support. Pappas has a great narrative tone and shares many personal stories that many young people could relate to or connect with.
I think this book would be great for any young reader looking to overcome challenges or learn about different roads to success.

Alexi Pappas is such a likeable narrator, and I really felt that she was so relatable to teens. Her early life was marked by tragedy, after her mother committed suicide, and she found herself dealing with the loss for the rest of her childhood. However, she points to the support of her family, and her internal motivation to succeed and envision a positive future as reasons for her success.

Some of her struggles were quickly brushed off as something that could be solved by just changing one's mindset. I felt like the action lagged around the middle half of the book and became a bit preachy. Overall I liked the positive tone and inspirational messages!

Although this book is a great resource for young people, it depicts a harsh upbringing full of mental-health challenges with her mother, a suicide, and learning to overcome her own depression. I really appreciated the rawness of it; however, as a teacher of middle school children navigating life after a pandemic, this wouldn't be a book I'd recommend to them. I think it's best suited for 8th grade and higher; however, a mature young reader. I appreciate Pappas's story and sharing her life and struggles as an athlete. I think there are great lessons to be learned and applied through her story.
#netgalley #braveyadaptedforyoungreaders

A great book for young fans of Alexi Pappas. It is so inspiring to hear her story from the loss of her mother at a young age all the way through her Olympic journey,