Aimee Bissonette
Illustrated by Doris Ettlinger
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Sleeping Bear Press, 2018, 978-1-58536-381-0
Jerrie Mack is only seven years old when she takes her
first ride in an airplane. She is so taken with the experience that she decides
there and then that she is going to be pilot.
Joan Merriam is
fifteen when she takes her first plane ride in 1952. When the plane lands Joan
tells her mother that she wants to learn how to fly a plane, and she ends up
getting her pilot’s license before she even learns how to drive a car.
Both women dream
of becoming a record-breaking pilot like Amelia Earhart, and when Joan is twenty-three
and Jerrie is thirty-seven they both decide that what they want to do next is
to fly around the world.
Jerrie and Joan
set about preparing for their epic journeys. Maps have to be studied and flight
plans have to be drawn up. Permission has to be granted by the governments of the
countries that they will be visiting. The interesting thing is that the women
do not know each other. Joan does not know what Jerrie is planning, and Jerrie
has no idea what Joan is up to.
Then, just a few
weeks before they are supposed to set off on their epic flight, the women hear
about each other. It looks as if their dreams to complete the journey that
Amelia Earhart was not able to finish have been turned into a race.
On March 17th,
1964 Joan’s plane takes off from an airport in Oakland, California. Just two
days later Jerrie takes to the skies. The women have different planes and they
are taking different routes. Truly remarkable adventures that are full of
problems and dangers lie ahead of them.
This is the
fascinating true story of two women who both greatly admired Amelia Earhart and
who both decided, independently, to follow in the footsteps of the famous
aviator. The narrative gives us a picture of what the two women were like, and
we come to appreciate how difficult and dangerous their journey was. This story
is a tribute to the two aviators, and it is also a tribute to the woman who
inspired them.