Synopses & Reviews
Named to the New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age 2006 As a tomboy growing up in Kansas, Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) delighted in trying new and risky things, once even building a working roller-coaster in her grandparents' backyard.
Her enchantment with aviation began in her twenties while she was volunteering as a war-time nurse in Toronto, Canada. She began taking flying lessons in California in 1921 and, to look more like a pilot, donned jodhpurs and boots before take-off and trimmed her blonde locks into the tousled bob that would become her signature style, .
In 1928, when sponsors of the transatlantic Friendship flight sought a Lady
Lindy to make the ocean crossing, they invited Earhart, whose willowy build, wholesome smile, and blue-grey eyes were similar to those of the famous Charles Lindbergh. Earhart received worldwide fame for this adventure.
For nine spectacular years thereafter Amelia Earhart was the world's best-known aviatrix, setting records and championing the efforts of women, especially in aviation, inspiring females throughout the world to explore careers traditionally held by men.
In 1937, she attempted to fly around the world at the Equator with navigator Fred Noonan. The two were lost en route to tiny Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, just days before Earhart's fortieth birthday.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the greatest land/ocean search ever undertaken but Earhart, Noonan, and the Electra were never found.
Synopsis
A exciting new biography of America's first lady of flight.
As a tomboy growing up in Kansas, Amelia Earhart delighted in trying new and risky things, once even building a roller-coaster in her grandparents' backyard. In her 20s she fell in love with flight while watching an aerobatics exhibition and grew even more enthralled when she took her first airplane ride.
At age 24 she earned her pilot's wings and 1928 took part in the transatlantic Friendship flight. Her willowy build, wholesome smile, and tousled blonde hair invited comparison to the celebrated pilot Charles Lindbergh, and Lady Lindy charmed the public with her unassuming manner.
Lori Van Pelt's Amelia Earhart: The Sky's No Limit takes readers through Earhart's career triumphs and tragedies. It explorers not only her accomplishments in the field of flight, but also her struggles in the male-dominated world of aviation.
Named to the New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age 2006
Synopsis
Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) earned her pilots wings in her early twenties and became the best-known female aviator of her time—probably of all time. During her two-decade career as a pilot, she set altitude records, speed records, and transcontinental flight records. She was the first person to solo the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California, and to fly an autogiro (the predecessor to todays helicopter) across the country. Earhart championed the efforts of women in aviation, inspiring women throughout the world to explore careers traditionally held by men.
In 1937, Earhart attempted to fly around the world at the Equator. Just days before her fortieth birthday, she vanished in the Pacific, together with navigator Fred Noonan, while en route to tiny Howland Island.
The circumstances of Earharts disappearance have yet to be unraveled but searches by independent individuals and groups continue, and the new technologies being employed may eventually solve the mystery.
A major new film, starring Hillary Swank as the famous aviator, and featuring Ewan McGregor and Richard Gere, is expected to be released in October 2009.
About the Author
Lori van Pelt has written on aviation and the American West for numerous magazines and newspapers. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies. She and her husband make their home on his familys ranch near Saratoga, Wyoming.