Book Reviews

Book Reviews -
Amelia Earhart: Young Air Pioneer: Navigation

Amelia Earhart: Young Air Pioneer

Rate It!
On 6+
2 stars

Competent but drab Earhart bio.

Author: Jane Howe Illustrator: Cathy Morrison Pages: 112 Publisher: Patria Press Published Date: 01/01/1950 Genre: Non-Fiction - Biography PB Price: $9.95 Publisher's Recommended Reading Level: 9-12 Read Aloud: 6 Read Alone: 8

It's quick and easy to pass on
this great info!

Common Sense Note

Interesting incidents in Earhart's childhood are conveyed through competent writing, but the illustrations are drab. Her sense of adventure will attract kids' interest.

Rate It!

Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Sally Snyder

Long before girl power was a concept, Amelia Earhart rode a homemade roller coaster, rescued neighbors from an angry dog, took a wild sled ride, and explored the Kansas countryside..

Originally published as Amelia Earhart: Kansas Girl, this newly edited version is the first in a new collection called the Young Patriots series. Author Jane Moore Howe extols the wholesome atmosphere of early-1900s life in Atchison, Kansas, where Earhart is an adventurous, lively girl eagerly looking beyond societal barriers, though portrayed as obedient (usually!) and empathetic.

Children may ask why Earhart and her sister, Pidge, lived with their grandparents from 1904 to 1910. The author explains that her father's work involves frequent travel, and Mama and Papa visit once at Christmas, but little else is mentioned. Also, poorly drawn pencil sketches undermine the engaging story and are sometimes carelessly inaccurate: Children will notice that Amelia's dog, James Ferocious, described as black-haired, appears lightly colored in the illustrations, and drawings of Amelia on her "rolly car" fail to show guard rails and make it difficult to imagine the car caroming off the roof of a shed.

Amelia Earhart: Challenging the Skies is a superior account of the aviator's life.

From the Book:
"Papa says there are lots of ways of being a pioneer," Amelia argued. "He says someday there will be air pioneers."

"Well, you'll never be one," Ginger said. "A girl could never fly an aeroplane."

"Girls can do anything that boys can do. I'm sick and tired of being told I can't do this and I can't do that. And all because I'm a girl!"

Plot Summary:

The author expands and fictionalizes a series of episodes in Amelia Earhart's childhood, starting at age seven. The stories continue through Earhart's eighth-grade graduation and include building a roller coaster from the top of a shed to the ground, exploring a riverside cave where girls are not allowed to go, and coasting "belly whopper" on a sled down a steep, icy hill. The author notes in an afterword that she specifically hunted for incidents in Earhart's life that demonstrated courage..

The final three chapters include some scenes from her adult life, such as learning to fly and her first solo flight. Three of Earhart's major accomplishments are listed at book's end. The author concludes with the aviator's unsolved disappearance over the Pacific Ocean.

Related Books:

Books With Similar Themes
Amelia Earhart: Challenging the Skies by Susan Slote
Lost Star by Patricia Lauber

Rate It! Send to a Friend

It's quick and easy to pass on
this great info!

Content
CS adults kids

Sexual Content

Violence

Language

Message

 

Social Behavior

She builds and rides her own little roller coaster, which begins on a roof.

 

Commercialism

 

Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco

Rate It Now

Tell others what you think!
Write a review or post a comment.

Tell others what you think!
Write a review or post a comment.

Tell others what you think!
Write a review or post a comment.

OR

Tell others what you think!
Write a review or post a comment.

It only takes a minute to get great benefits! Sign up now and get a FREE Internet Survival Guide!