American Spirit

Profiles in Resilience, Courage, and Faith

Taya Kyle, Jim DeFelice

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780062683724
• eBook ISBN:
  9780062683731
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

The New York Times–bestselling author shares "moving and passionate" true stories of people who found their purpose through perseverance and service ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Taya Kyle entered a period of deep grief when she lost her husband, "American Sniper" Chris Kyle. Yet the experience served as a catalyst for profound growth. Taya found her own reserve of strength with the help of family and friends—and also many strangers across America, who shared their own stories of suffering and survival. Inspired by their courage, Taya discovered her calling: spreading a message of how we can triumph 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 grappling with loss, illness, all manner of setback: a 9/11 survivor, badly burned over 60% of his body, who asked himself What debt to do I owe to God?; a man with the hole in his heart who runs ultramarathons; a young cancer victim whose lemonade stand inspired a revolutionary new model for fighting cancer; a pastor who became an undercover investigator, and more.
The more than thirty individual profiled here embody the "American spirit" of resilience, faith, and togetherness that has built the nation. In the end, their stories teach us that "every action, big or small, has the potential to spark someone else's movement."

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction: Hoping
• The Pioneer Spirit Lives On
• One: Growing a Future
• Our Kids as the Future
• Trick, Treat, Triumph
• When Life Gave Him Cancer, He Made Lemonade
• Toward a Sweetish Cure
• The “Sweet Feet” Girls
• Everyone Deserves a Family
• Not Abandoned
• Two: Getting Them There
• Movers and Shakers
• Soaring for Others
• Bound for Glory—and Service
• The Easy Way Kills You
• High Risk, Higher Reward
• Three: To Help Others
• Being Different
• Getting Past Barriers
• The Blind Bikers of Central Park
• You Belong Here
• Flipping the Pig
• Called to Be a Hero
• Four: Moving Past Grief
• Beyond Our Burdens
• Finding Meaning in Loss
• Don’t Be Inspired; Be Exceptional
• Helping Families Recover
• Five: A Roof Over Their Heads
• Giving Shelter
• Little Houses, Big Hearts
• Get Up, Suit Up, Show Up
• He’s so Fly
• Six: Giving Back
• What Do We Owe?
• Partying for Hope
• MVP at Giving Dysphagia
• Tie One on for a Cause
• Bad-ass with a Heart of Gold
• Summer Song
• Junking for Joy
• Seven: Honor, Memory, and Angels
• Precious Resources
• Honor and Heal
• Perseverance and Remembrance
• For Kids and Country
• Mr. Perseverance
• Eight: Belief
• Matters of Faith
• Lead with Love
• Out of the Fire
• Nine: Spirit’s Wings
• Without Boundaries
• Into Satan’s Lair
• Pioneer Abroad
• Ten: CKFF
• My Motto and Goal
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• Also by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice
• Copyright
• About the Publisher