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Summary
Summary
Pilot Charles A. Lindbergh was one of the first Americans to be lionized by the news media. When LIndbergh made his nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927, radio and sound movies were just beginning to be popular, enabling people to learn of events almost as soon as they happened. Overnight, the 25-year-old Lindbergh, a man of modest means and education, was catapulted into the public limelight. He became the American hero whom everyone adored and thought could do no wrong. Lindbergh's popularity lasted little more than a decade. His ties to Nazi Germany and his outspoken isolationist views prior to World War II cost him the respect of many close friend and relatives, and of the general public as well. The story of Lindbergh's rise to fame and abrupt descent into disgrace is told here with frankness and understanding. The meticulously researched text and generous selection of archival photographs present a lively and rounded portrait of a man who earned his place in aviation history despite his faults.
Author Notes
James Cross Giblin was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8, 1933. He received a B. A. from Western Reserve University in 1954 and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University in 1955. He pursued playwriting before taking a job at Criterion Books in 1959. He focused on the children's book field. In the early to mid-1960s, he was an associate editor at Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. In 1967, he moved to Seabury Press, where he became editor-in-chief, spearheading the development of the children's book line there, later called Clarion Books. When Houghton Mifflin bought Clarion in the late 1970s, he moved to the company as Clarion's publisher. As an editor, he worked with such authors as Eileen Christelow and Mary Downing Hahn.
His first children's book, The Scarecrow Book written with Dale Ferguson, was published in 1980. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 20 books for young readers, mainly nonfiction, historical nonfiction, and biographies. He won several awards including the 1983 National Book Award for Chimney Sweeps: Yesterday and Today and the 2003 Sibert Medal for The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. He died on April 10, 2016 at the age of 82.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-10For those who know him simply as "Lucky Lindy" or the father of the kidnapped baby, this book will fill in the gaps in Lindbergh's life and flesh out the well-known tale of his transcontinental flight. From his daredevil beginnings as a driver at 11, to his motorcycle antics and eventual barnstorming, the subject's personal and professional life are recounted in clear and readable prose. The behind-the-scenes action before Lindbergh's famous Paris flight are explained in great detail, from his failed sponsors to the eventual success that made his name a household word. Lindbergh's family life, the kidnapping of his first born, and his celebrity status are all chronicled in this well-documented volume. Giblin explores the power of the media in creating a hero and the price of such fame. Numerous, fine-quality archival photographs bring the story to life. Those readers who need to know how Charles Lindbergh began his career and what he did after his flight to Paris will find a wealth of information in a concise easy-to-read format.Allison Trent Bernstein, Blake Middle School, Medfield, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Candid, colorful and exceptionally clear in its presentation of complex issues, this biography will communicate to its readers the feverish excitement that surrounded Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) from the moment his plane landed in Paris in 1927 until his isolationist stance at the beginning of WWII robbed him of his popularity. Focusing on three major issuesthe kidnapping of Lindbergh's son as well as the trans-Atlantic flight and Lindbergh's prewar politicsthe book includes an overarching discussion of Lindbergh's adversarial relationship with the media and the problems created by his unprecedented celebrity. Throughout, Giblin provides readers with easy-to-understand explanations of the social context of his subject's life and the role he played in U.S. history. He theorizes, for example, that Americans enthusiastically embraced "Lucky Lindy" as a hero in part because the moral decline in the 1920s left many begging for a wholesome role model. At the same time, he doesn't forget to include trivia certain to hook the audience (referring to his long flight, the King of England took Lindbergh aside and asked "Tell me, how do you pee?"). Like Barry Denenberg's recent An American Hero: The True Story of Charles Lindbergh, this volume thoughtfully weighs the controversial aspects of Lindbergh's career (e.g., accusations of being pro-Nazi) and examines his subject's flaws. His conclusion, that Lindbergh had "more than his share of weaknesses, along with tremendous strengths," will leave the audience with a fresh appreciation of what it means to be a hero. Illustrated with 71 b&w photos. Ages 9-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Michael Dorris's adult novels Yellow Raft in Blue Water and Cloud Chamber chronicle the deceptions and betrayals that nearly destroy a family, generation after generation. Yellow Raft in Blue Water moves from the present generation of fifteen-year-old Rayona back through two generations of women on her maternal side, while Cloud Chamber opens in nineteenth-century Ireland and moves forward through five generations of Rayona's paternal family. Whereas these two books convey how suffocating and harmful relationships can be, The Window throws itself open to the strengths of familial bonds. From the moment eleven-year-old Rayona sits by the window waiting for the return of her frequently delinquent mother, this novel pulsates forward with an energy and wit that never falters. In lively contrast to Dorris's more somber historical novels for children, the seemingly cocky but vulnerable and emotionally needy Rayona narrates this short novel with a breezy, spunky voice. When her Indian mother does not return from her latest binge to declare their usual "National Holiday" (on which she and Rayona can eat breakfast for supper and practice being best friends), Rayona's philandering black father informs her that her mother has checked into a rehab center, but that he is unable to care for Rayona. Her foster placement with the relentlessly cheerful Potters (Rayona is amazed to discover that "there are actual people like this who aren't on a weekly sitcom") proves short-lived and disastrous; placement with the stolid Mrs. Jackson turns to unexpected fun for them both but is likewise cut short. Rayona senses that her father, in talking with her about his family (with whom she will live next) is "leaving something out, some detail, some secret within a secret, but I am so anxious to find out what happened next, to get to the 'me' part, that I let it go by." The Window is all the "me part," keeping the exuberant narrator squarely in the middle as she finds her place in the secrets of her family. Rayona soon learns that her grandmother (her father's mother) is white-a fact he tells Rayona when he is taking her to meet her grandmother for the first time. Rayona resolves not to miss another word for the rest of her life. Sitting in the window seat of the airplane, she understands that she will never again "be able to look out a small window and see [her] whole world from it." With the introduction of Rayona's great-grandmother, the ancient and proper Mamaw, her sensible and wise Aunt Edna, and her grandmother Marcella (a "vanilla Hostess cupcake" of a woman), Dorris's novel becomes yet more unguarded as these three women embrace their young relative with unconditional love. No scene feels more genuinely celebratory than when her aunt and grandmother travel west with Rayona to return her home. Having installed a device atop their car to provide cool air-a contrivance that re-quires the windows to be rolled up-the three must shout to be heard, causing a cacophony of "beg your pardons." When Grand-mother opens the window, thinking to be chastised but instead winning the approval of everyone as the cooler sails away, all three break into hilarity and song. Without glos-sing over the hurt and pain of parental abandonment, this novel of open win-dows is a joy, a "national holiday" to which we can return any day of the week. s.p.b. Picture Books Marc Brown Arthur's Computer Disaster; illus. by the author (Preschool, Younger) Arthur knows he's not supposed to be using his mother's computer, but the lure of Deep, Dark Sea, "the greatest game in the universe," is irresistible. Predictably, the computer breaks; luckily, it's easy to fix; reassuringly, Mom is not mad, just disappointed. She decrees that there will be no computer gaming for a week-at least for Arthur: "'I'll be right up,' called Mom. 'As soon as I blast these skeletons from the treasure chest.'" "Adapted by Marc Brown from a teleplay by Joe Fallon," this story of mild disaster followed by mild reproof will be a pleasant diversion for fans of the popular TV personality. r.s. Eve Bunting Ducky; illus. by David Wisniewski (Preschool) David Wisniewski's Caldecott-winning paper-cutting talents get a comedic workout here, illustrating Bunting's slightly sly text about a plastic duck who, along with thousands of fellow bathtub toys, is washed overboard when a storm hits the freighter ferrying them across the ocean (Bunting supplies a note about the factual event that inspired the story). The duck tells the story ("Our ship has disappeared. The sea is big, big, big. Oh, I am scared!"), including an unfortunate encounter with a shark ("It shakes its head and spits us out. I expect we are not too tasty, though we are guaranteed non-toxic") and the basic existential dilemma of a bathtub toy out of its element: "I wish we could swim and get away. But all we can do is float." The ocean's currents eventually bring the duck to shore alongside many of his compatriots, and he finally achieves his destiny, floating in the security of a bubblebath. This is an out-of-the way excursion for both author and illustrator, and if Wisniewski's pictures are sometimes too weighty for Bunting's buoyant text, they are certainly splashy enough. r.s. H Peter Collington A Small Miracle (Younger) The creator of On Christmas Eve (reviewed 11/90) revisits that significant night in another masterfully executed wordless picture book. The artist's trademark sequential frames make the experience of turning the pages like watching a movie; this time it's a gripping, matter-of-factly magical story of charity and selflessness rewarded. In the midst of a bustling, prosperous contemporary village, a desperate old woman loses every-thing when she sells her sole prized possession-her accordion-and then is robbed. On her way home, she encounters the same thief attempting (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 6^-12. The subtitle says it all. "Lucky Lindy" gets the star treatment here--accolades for his solo transatlantic flight and empathy for the kidnapping and murder of his child--but he is also shown in a sober spotlight that examines his Nazi sympathies and anti-Semitism. Giblin handles both aspects beautifully. The chapters that trace Lindbergh's grueling 33-hour trip across the frigid Atlantic will make compelling read-alouds, and the segment describing his political shift from naive isolationism to racism is fairly drawn and bound to stir debate. Giblin also picks up on Lindbergh's contentious relationship with the media (reporters dogged Lindbergh at every turn, once even forcing him to move his family to England), which becomes a common thread in the text, giving readers the opportunity to reflect on the price of a life lived in the public eye. Giblin gives us a sense of the complete man--adventurer, family man, environmentalist, Nazi apologist--in this balanced portrait of an individual he calls "an all-too-human hero." Source notes, chronology, and more than 70 black-and-white photos.--Randy Meyer