Published by Baker Publishing Group, Baker Books on January 28, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life, Memoir
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Riley Kehoe is no stranger to fear. At 10 years old, she survived the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami in Thailand. After that traumatic event killed nearly 230,000 people, she began asking herself each day, What do I want to do with this gift of life I've been given? She realized that she could let fear rule over her--or she could choose to have courage.
Sharing her remarkable personal story, Riley shows you how small acts of bravery can change your life in ways you can't imagine. They can mean the difference between a life of isolation or one of connection, between playing it safe or taking a bold step forward, between being self-focused or reaching out to help others, between holding a grudge or offering and accepting forgiveness.
Filled with dramatic and touching stories--such as when Riley performed CPR on a drowned man and brought him back to life and when she climbed onto the ledge of a bridge to talk a young man out of jumping--this book will inspire you to approach every day with a spirit of courage, possibility, and hope.
When Riley Kehoe was a child, she experienced the 2004 Thailand tsunami. Her family was visiting relatives in Thailand for Christmas when the tsunami hit, and this book begins by recounting their experiences fleeing from the waves and surviving this horrific natural disaster. From there, the book explores her experiences coping with the trauma, learning to be brave, and pursuing courage in many other areas of her life.
Kehoe reflects on some of the unhealthy ways that she tried to process the trauma, and she reflects on the importance of being brave through vulnerability, instead of pretending that everything is fine and always trying to put a positive spin on things. Kehoe shares many stories and examples from her own life experiences to illustrate messages about bravery and faith, and even though there’s the potential for the book to start sounding like a humble brag when she gets into stories about impressive things she has done, she counterbalances this by being honest about her failings and low points as well.
Three Seconds of Courage: How Small Acts of Bravery Lead to Big Change is a great book. I enjoyed it very much, and teared up multiple times. The author’s story is truly inspiring, and I appreciate her honesty, depth, and insightful reflections on living out her faith in everyday life. This book will especially appeal to young women in their teens and twenties, but it can appeal to anyone who enjoys survival stories, motivational self-help books, and faith memoirs. This book deserves a wide readership, and can appeal to Christians and to people from other belief backgrounds who find the theme meaningful and are interested in the author’s life story.