Caroline Paul

Caroline Paul turns firsthand adventure into books about courage and curiosity, drawing on experience as an American writer, pilot, and former San Francisco firefighter. The Gutsy Girl combines memoir, practical activities, and stories of adventurous women to encourage young readers to treat fear as information rather than a command to withdraw. Paul draws on experiences flying aircraft, rafting rivers, climbing, and responding to emergencies, then pairs those accounts with prompts for building confidence and self-reliance. Wendy MacNaughton illustrated the book, giving its exercises and stories a playful visual rhythm. Bloomsbury published the original edition in 2016 and later issued an updated paperback. Before writing it, Paul chronicled nearly fourteen years in the fire service in Fighting Fire and explored tracking technology and animal behavior in Lost Cat. The Gutsy Girl carries those interests into a younger register: observation, preparation, and judgment matter as much as boldness. Its central idea is not that danger should be ignored, but that girls deserve room to practice informed risk, competence, and independence.