A review by erine
Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka, David Craig
3.0
I've always had a bit of a fascination with mysterious disappearances. If I remember correctly I read the Lost and Never Found books several times. In general, Amelia Earhart was a well done story; the pictures and text combined nicely for an easy flow throughout the book. I have one complaint. The book flap states that Earhart disappeared on July 2. It also claims in a caption on page 34 that on July 9 (seven days after disappearing), Earhart and her navigator ate a hearty meal in Venezuela. In the text itself, it's clear they hit Venezuela between the end of May and mid-June. It made me raise my eyebrow a bit that a book that got a non-fiction award should have such a glaring error. But overall I enjoyed it, especially the little tidbits of information in the sidebars that included facts about her fan mail, mini-timelines and historical notes.
I think this book would appeal to kids for the same reason the topic attracted me as a young reader. Disappearances are mysterious and exciting. The open-ended story is almost like choose-your-own adventure in that the reader gets to choose what ending makes the most sense to him or her. Kids who enjoy historical reading, books about flying or women's achievements, or even about the supernatural might like this book. For readers who enjoy the American Girls series, this has some similar elements in a non-fiction book.
I think this book would appeal to kids for the same reason the topic attracted me as a young reader. Disappearances are mysterious and exciting. The open-ended story is almost like choose-your-own adventure in that the reader gets to choose what ending makes the most sense to him or her. Kids who enjoy historical reading, books about flying or women's achievements, or even about the supernatural might like this book. For readers who enjoy the American Girls series, this has some similar elements in a non-fiction book.