Take a Leap of Faith and Put it Out There: Hayley Diep, "If You Give a Girl a Bike"

We’re leaving New England and heading west this week to talk with teacher, author, and all around activity enthusiast Hayley Diep.

This year on March 8th, not coincidentally International Women’s Day, Hayley released her first book, an illustrated kid’s story called If You Give a Girl a Bike. The book takes you along on a fun romp with the main character and her two friends as they try new things, fail, learn, and try again - which all starts when a girl is given a bike. If the littles in your life have ever been obsessed with Laura Numeroff’s If You Give a Moose a Muffin, you can probably guess what the girls are still doing at the end of their adventurous day.

Hayley’s journey to being a published author was hardly a straight, flowy line, though - more like an off-camber rock garden that had to be powered through. But just like her protagonist, Hayley didn’t let a few setbacks keep her down; she just picked herself up, regrouped, and tried  a new line.

I love Hayley’s story; it’s not too hard to see where the inspiration for her tenacious main character came from!

You can follow Hayley’s bike, surf and climbing adventures on Instagram @hayleydiepwrites, or on Facebook through her If You Give a Girl a Bike page. You might also want to check out Braden Hallett’s work (the book's illustrator) at bradenhallett.com.

Finally, school is starting soon, I hope you’ll think about picking up a few copies of If You Give a Girl a Bike and donating them to your local elementary or public libraries! Head over to hayleydiep.com, order there and throw a little extra toward one of her charity partners.

HayleyDiep.com - buy a book, or get great resources for self-publishing

Some other links from our conversation:

• Ingram Spark
• Rebecca Rusch
• All Mountain Brothers
• Melanin Basecamp
• ‘Mountain Bike Sam’ - @mtbikesamantha
• Storytime with Mr. Limata (in addition to his book reviews and live story times he hosts on Facebook, Mr. Limata has assembled an amazing linktree of social justice and literacy links - check it out!)

Wendy Eliot on Guides Gone Wild - more fun climbing inspo!