One Girl One Dream Paperback – April 26, 2016

I watched the documentary “Maidentrip”, I thought was intriguing but not particularly well made; it prompted me to read her book seeking the rest of the story. As it often is, it was much, much better than the movie. Laura’s trip is an amazing enterprise, it show everything that is good about entrepreneurial spirits. The narrative is simple, at the beginning a bit too technical about the sailing vocabulary, soon after acquiring the language the book becomes a smooth fun and entertaining reading. The book includes drawings and schematics as appendices depicting the boat that makes easier to follow Laura’s description. Regardless of ghost writing, this is a great story that I wish more teens would read. Laura shows that there are those rare exceptions in life were the quote: “Youth is wasted on the young” does not apply. She concludes by saying that her trip was as much an oceans of the world journey as it was a journey to change herself, to make her aware of who she is and what she wants her life to be. Reading it makes you want to drop whatever you are doing and go sailing to exciting places. I just hope her spirit remains undaunted throughout her life, and chooses to contribute her enormous leadership potential to the world in endeavours other than sailing; perhaps by becoming a global advocate for causes around environmental protection of the oceans.

Review of "One Girl One Dream" by Laura Dekker.This book is an autobiography chronicling the author's solo sail around the world between the ages of 14 and 16. It was originally written in Dutch and translated to English.The book goes somewhat into Laura's history as she born on a boat in New Zealand during her parent's 7 year sailing voyage of the world. It also chronicles in a chapter the Dutch authorities attempts to stop her and take her from her parents.The book is very detailed about the sailing and some terminology may require being looked up. It is also somewhat like a diary with brief descriptions of her many stops on different islands and the friends she makes while sailing and at the many ports. The way she feels and grows during her 2 years at sea make for very fast reading.This girl's story is inspirational and amazing. A great read 5/5 Stars

Very interesting book recounting 14 year old sailor Laura Dekker's trip around the world. Gives a somewhat surprising account of her family's legal battles with the Dutch school authorities, escalating to the prime minister, and a year in the courts, where she finally prevailed. The outfitting of her modified 38 foot Jeanneau cruising sailboat and her extensive sailing experience. You forget how young she is as she writes in a very straight forward somewhat technical way when describing her passages, reminiscent of some old stiff upper lip world traveler, then a few paragraphs later will sound very young, recounting a story about hiding some food on her plate that she doesn't like so as not to offend her hosts. Nice mix of seamanship beyond her years and a very personal view on her round the world travels. Not a person interested in fame or record books, a strong personality with insights way beyond her age. Great book especially for young people with some familiarity with boats.

I'll keep it short. This is an awesome book and it is motivational. Laura's determination to conquer her own goal became a bigger story than just sailing because of government interference. While it is not the main plot, it is, just like many things that get in our way as we try "out of the box" things, it serves as a distracter and traumatic situation that should have never occurred. I watch the movie and then read the book which gave me a strong visual as the events unfolded in her book. This story, her story, has made me start to plan my adventure for retirement into sailing the world as well which will be a soul cleanser for me because of my chosen profession(s). This will force me to slow down and enjoy life while I discover the rest of the world. Order this book and watch the movie on Netflix while you wait for the book to arrive. It is a good story for all ages, especially the young, the poor, girls, boys, men women, well everyone. Just get it and let me know if you agree.

Of course I loved the book! First I saw the film after having heard from her and being a 100% in favor of her trip! Then I bought the book and became her supporter. The book is written by a 14-16 year-old kid and it is completely hooking. I could not put the book down until I had read it all. Then I went to her page on the Internet to follow up on her adventures. So: I really loved it. If you like sailing stories and a courageous sailor, then you will love this book. Order it right away...

I watched Laura's documentary "One Girl, One Dream" a few years ago and I was blown away by her. I have since watched it several times. I just finished reading this book, and I am equally impressed.This book is but a brief account of her struggles to set sail and circumnavigate the globe. IMO, this book could have been twice as large and still not been enough. She covered so much territory and experienced too many things to be told so briefly.My hats off to Laura and her family.

There are several reasons why you might read a book like this one, , but in the case of "One Girl One Dream", read it for inspiration. I bought this for my wife as we prepare for our own long distance cruise, and I hoped it would inspire her, and it did. She was talking about it every day as she was reading it, and it was obvious how much she enjoyed it. Afterwards our conversations about boat systems, lists of things yet to be done, and expressions of desire for the types of sailing and travel experiences we wanted, changed in a much more positive way. Miss Dekker showed wonderful character in being able to accomplish her goal. Thank you so much for telling your story!

I saw the movie "Maidentrip" and wanted to know a little more about this interesting girl. The book is not a literary classic, but it did answer most of the questions I had after seeing the movie. A most interesting young women, with a lot of courage and tenacity.