NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� One of the world's greatest big-wave surfers, Brazil's Maya Gabeira, has embarked on a kid-friendly adventure.
The seven-time winner of the World Surf League Big Wave Award has a deal with Abrams Children鈥檚 Books for two picture stories and a young adult memoir. The first picture book, a fairy tale of 鈥渂ig waves and even bigger courage," titled 鈥淢aya and the Beast鈥� and illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki, comes out Aug. 2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a dream of mine to share my story with children, in my own words, for a long time," Gabeira said in a statement Thursday. 鈥�'Maya and the Beast' is based on my own story: from a shy, asthmatic child to world record holder in the male-dominated sport of big wave surfing.鈥�
Gabeira's memoir, currently untitled, is scheduled for 2023. According to Abrams, the book will feature 鈥渁s-yet-untold stories of the friendships, relationships, and personal challenges she encountered on the road to becoming one of surfing鈥檚 elite athletes.鈥�
The 34-year-old Gabeira is credited by Guinness World Records for surfing the highest wave ever by a woman, more than 73 feet in Nazar茅, Portugal in 2020.
The Associated Press
