Bravey

The Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker and writer Alexi Pappas shares what she’s learned about confidence, self-reliance, mental health, embracing pain, and achieving your dreams. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE • “Heartbreaking and hilarious.”—Mindy Kaling • “A beautiful read.”—Ruth Reichl • “Essential guidance to anyone dreaming big dreams.”—Shalane Flanagan • “I couldn’t put it down.”—Adam Grant run like a bravey sleep like a baby dream like a crazy replace can’t with maybe When “Renaissance runner” (New York Times) Alexi Pappas—Olympic athlete, actress, filmmaker, and writer—was four years old, her mother died by suicide, drastically altering the course of Pappas’s life and setting her on a search for female role models. When her father signed his bereaved daughter up for sports teams as a way to keep her busy, female athletes became the first women Pappas looked up to, and her Olympic dream was born. At the same time, Pappas had big creative dreams, too: She wanted to make movies, write, and act. Despite setbacks and hardships, Pappas refused to pick just one lane. She put in a tremendous amount of hard work and wouldn’t let anything stand in her way until she achieved all of her dreams, however unrelated they may seem to outsiders. In a single year, 2016, she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner and wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature film. But great highs are often accompanied by deep lows; with joy comes sorrow. In Bravey, Pappas fearlessly and honestly shares her battle with post-Olympic depression and describes how she emerged on the other side as a thriving and self-actualized woman. Unflinching, exuberant, and always entertaining, Bravey showcases Pappas’s signature, charming voice as she reflects upon the touchstone moments in her life and the lessons that have powered her career as both an athlete and an artist—foremost among them, how to be brave. Pappas’s experiences reveal how we can all overcome hardship, befriend pain, celebrate victory, relish the loyalty found in teammates, and claim joy. In short: how every one of us can become a bravey.

Alexi Pappas is not only an Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker, she is a writer whose heartwarming and life-affirming memoir will inspire young readers, as she shares the touchstone moments in her life that helped her learn about confidence and self-reliance, compassion and forgiveness, and loss and hope, in this accessible and motivating memoir. What is a bravey? For Alexi Pappas, it means to chase the goals that seem scary. She has not shied away from the challenge. In this honest and hopeful memoir written especially for young readers, Alexi Pappas details key moments that had profound effects on her life, including the loss of her mother when she was just four years old, to her formative years at school where she felt different from her peers, and into her young adult life, including the incredible year she experienced in 2016 when she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner and wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature film. Through it all, Alexi worked hard—physically, mentally, and emotionally, but not without setbacks and difficulties, all of which helped her learn about confidence and self-reliance, compassion and forgiveness, loss and hope. Even with good things happening, Alexi found herself facing anxiety and mental health issues. Isn't winning supposed to make a person happy? How does one make life better when it already seems good? Alexi doesn't provide all the answers, but she offers ideas to consider when life gets complicated. Young readers will be inspired by Alexi's journey to create an abundant life filled with loving friends and family and strong female role models and mentors--who helped to shape the bravey she is today.

What if you had one year to save everything you loved? ONE PRINCESS. Merida of DunBroch needs a change. She loves her family—jovial King Fergus, proper Queen Elinor, the mischievous triplets— and her peaceful kingdom. But she's frustrated by its sluggishness; each day, the same. Merida longs for adventure, purpose, challenge – maybe even, someday, love. TWO GODS. But the fiery Princess never expects her disquiet to manifest by way of Feradach, an uncanny supernatural being tasked with rooting out rot and stagnation, who appears in DunBroch on Christmas Eve with the intent to demolish the realm – and everyone within. Only the intervention of the Cailleach, an ancient entity of creation, gives Merida a shred of hope: convince her family to change within the year – or suffer the eternal consequences. THREE VOYAGES. Under the watchful eyes of the gods, Merida leads a series of epic journeys to kingdoms near and far in an attempt to inspire revolution within her family. But in her efforts to save those she loves from ruin, has Merida lost sight of the Clan member grown most stagnant of all – herself? FOUR SEASONS TO SAVE DUNBROCH – OR SEE IT DESTROYED, FOREVER.

From the bestselling author of "The Wordy Shipmates" comes an examination of Hawaii's emblematic and exceptional history, retracing the impact of New England missionaries who began arriving in the early 1800s to remake the island paradise into a version of New England.

Tired of training and not getting wins? Feeling a lack of motivation, or that there just isn't enough time to do it all? Missing when sport felt fun?If you've been training for an endurance sport like cycling or running but find yourself feeling stuck or not getting the results that you want, your daily habits might be to blame. Being an all-around athletic, healthy human capable of tackling any outdoor adventure-a Consummate Athlete, if you will-takes smart training and thoughtful lifestyle choices. In this book, you'll learn new ways to look at your recovery, fueling, training, record keeping and even your gear in order to help you reach your athletic goals while actually enjoying your healthy lifestyle. Longtime endurance sport coach and kinesiologist Peter Glassford and his equally athletic wife, author and fellow coach Molly Hurford are going to change the way you view your training. Remember: You are an athlete, and you owe it to yourself to start living like one!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NOW WITH A NEW WORKBOOK Deena Kastor was a star youth runner with tremendous promise, yet her career almost ended after college, when her competitive method—run as hard as possible, for fear of losing—fostered a frustration and negativity and brought her to the brink of burnout. On the verge of quitting, she took a chance and moved to the high altitudes of Alamosa, Colorado, where legendary coach Joe Vigil had started the first professional distance-running team. There she encountered the idea that would transform her running career: the notion that changing her thinking—shaping her mind to be more encouraging, kind, and resilient—could make her faster than she’d ever imagined possible. Building a mind so strong would take years of effort and discipline, but it would propel Kastor to the pinnacle of running—to American records in every distance from the 5K to the marathon—and to the accomplishment of earning America’s first Olympic medal in the marathon in twenty years. Let Your Mind Run is a fascinating intimate look inside the mind of an elite athlete, a remarkable story of achievement, and an insightful primer on how the small steps of cultivating positivity can give anyone a competitive edge.

A powerful and redemptive story of how the dazzling world of roller derby helped one young woman transform her fear and self-doubt into gutsy, big-hearted, adventurous living “A universal story of healing and triumph, made all the more beautiful, wild, and free by Gabe’s fierce love for roller derby and her team, who become her family.”—ABBY WAMBACH, Olympian, activist, and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wolfpack ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Book Riot Growing up queer in a conservative Midwestern town, Gabe Montesanti never felt comfortable in her own skin. A competitive swimmer, she turned to perfectionism and self-control to create a sense of safety, only to develop an eating disorder and constantly second-guess her instincts. When she enters graduate school in St. Louis, she is determined to put the baggage of her childhood behind her. With no prior experience, she joins Arch Rival, one of the top-ranked roller derby leagues in the world. Gabe instantly falls in love with the sport’s roughness, intensity, and open embrace of people who are literally and figuratively scarred. She soon finds community and a sense of belonging, reveling in the tattoos, glitter, and campiness. But when Gabe suffers a catastrophic injury, she can no longer ignore the parallels between the physicality of roller derby and the unresolved trauma of her upbringing. Rendered inactive, forced to be still, Gabe realizes she needs to heal her emotional wounds as much as her physical ones; she must confront her fear and self-diminishment in order to feel truly alive. Told with unflinching honesty and a giant dose of wonder, Brace for Impact is a tender, inspiring memoir about the everyday heroism of pursuing a life less ordinary, and the deeply human need to be at peace with who you are.

Ebony, a twenty-eight-year-old Black woman living in Texas, was going through a divorce, living with her mom in poverty, and finding it hard to make ends meet. After years of working dead end jobs, she received a phone call from a temp agency that changed her life in the best way, and also the worst way. A call that began her six-figure career in higher education, and her descent into Racial Discrimination Hell. The temp assignment was at Daebrun Career Institute, a popular, for-profit college with several campuses in the State of Texas. And after only two short months, Daebrun hired Ebony permanently, and she was thrilled to have a chance to live the American dream. But the American dream, the dream that made her believe she could have the same opportunities given to White employees, became a living nightmare, after Ebony's boss resigned, and was replaced with a racist one.Over the course of five years, Ebony's bosses changed, but the racism didn't as each one tried to break her, like she was a wild horse they were determined to tame. She was degraded and dehumanized with threats and fear, humiliated on a daily basis, and stripped of all dignity, confidence, and strength. The environment she was forced to work in was so hostile she considered killing her boss, or herself, to escape the torment.After years of suffering, Ebony found courage through faith and the love of her mom, learned how to fight back through trial and error, and made the transition from racial discrimination victim to racial discrimination victor by proving the existence of systemic racism in her workplace, obtaining a six-figure settlement from her employer to buy her silence, and maintaining her employment for several more years.