Teased for her disability the little girl faces up to all the challenges thrown at her and finds a way of making her special situation a powerful tool. Cece Bell describes how the Phonic Ear – a crude piece of technology gives the little girl the ability to hear – also makes her an outsider as she is so obviously different. For those who want to emulate Bear’s exploits there is a lot of useful detail about survival for those who just want to admire from afar the stories of his endurance are gripping.Ĭece Bell has no public profile but in El Deafo the author/illustrator tells her own poignant story of how she had to adapt to losing her hearing at a very young age. As an adult he joined the SAS, one of the toughest groups in the army, where he learnt just how much courage and discipline was needed for survival in the most extreme situations. Bear’s childhood included climbing up the school buildings and the steeples of local churches before.

In his autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears which has been adapted for a younger audience, action man Bear Grylls tells how his taste for adventure and going the extra mile began when he was still at school. How much racial prejudice the young Michaela had to overcome to make it in the ballet world adds another twist in this story of a courageous and determined young woman who must overcome both her past and the present to achieve her dreams. After a spell in an orphanage, where life was exceptionally hard, Michaela and her best friend are, almost miraculously adopted by an American couple, and the young girl begins a whole new life in the US – including ballet lessons.

Michaela DePrince tells how she was orphaned as a little girl growing up in Sierra Leone when her father was shot by rebels and her mother died of starvation. Hope in a Ballet Shoe by Michaela and her mother Elaine DePrince is the heart-wrenching story of international ballet star.

Bear grylls autobiography