Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1357299 in Books
• Published on: 1995-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8?At 12, Vicki Van Meter became the youngest girl to have ever flown across both the continental U.S. and the Atlantic Ocean. The accomplished young aviatrix begins her first-person narrative by recounting how, at age 10, her father suggested she take flying lessons. She was interested in becoming an astronaut so flying proved to be a good fit for her, and gradually her ambitions were born. Throughout her account, Vicki proves herself to be an interesting, likable, and goal-oriented youngster. The continuity of her story, however, is disrupted by inclusions of comments from family and others involved in her adventures. These abrupt interruptions may prove confusing to readers and don't add greatly to the book. Nevertheless, Vicki is a wonderful role model for children. Her supportive family, school, and community also send an upbeat message. Additionally, readers will enjoy sharing in some of Vicki's instant-celebrity episodes and a few hair-raising flying crises. Technical lingo is kept to a minimum, and aeronautical terms, when used, are clearly explained. An entertaining and contemporary autobiography.?Rosalyn Pierini, San Luis Obispo City-County Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4^-6. At the age of 10, Vicki learned to fly; less than two years later, she became an international celebrity when she piloted a plane across the Atlantic Ocean. Kids will grab this account for the exciting facts about how to fly (what equipment you need, how the controls work, what happens when you take off and land, how you train, etc.) and also for the glorious adventure of the ordinary young girl who broke boundaries. Cowriter Gutman retains Vicki's unassuming voice, whether she's talking about problems with ice and altitude and turbulence, the difficulty of going to the bathroom in a plane, or the thrill of being in control while going 150 miles an hour. Occasional comments from Vicki's amazingly supportive family are interspersed with her personal narrative. There's no false modesty (she admits it was "kind of fun" to get all that attention), but she's able to laugh at herself (she knew that writing the school essay "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" would be a breeze). She tells readers to go for what they want to do and try. What makes her advice so convincing is that she's open about how hard that can be. Hazel Rochman

Customer Reviews

what vicki is to me.
ever since I was two I'v always dreamed about flying, when I read this book it amazed me. Now that I know vicki's achievments she is a hero in my book (whitch I don't have)and I'll always look up to her.

It was an excellent book, I truly loved it.
This book was about a girl who was just a normal girl who liked to do regular girl things. But then, no one ever imagined that she would do anything like this. One day there was a opening at an airport for someone to fly a plane if he or she wanted to. She signed up, and then after her first three lessons, they didn't even need to talk about it; she was going to become a pilot. She got more lessons, and then made a 3,000 mile crossing from Maine to California, the most challenging trip because it was from East to West. After she had made that flight she made another goal to shoot for. Making a trip across the Atlantic ocean. This as I understand was the hardest part of her journy. When she was in Pennsulvania, one of the men asked her to keep this bottle of water of the Atlantic ocean with her on the plane, and pour it into the Pasific ocean when she got there. When she got there and poured the water in, she picked up some Pasific water so she could complete the circle when she came back to Pennsulvania. She wants to become a aircraft pilot, and when she's 16 she is very likely to become a small plane pilot and take journy's all over the world. Good luck Vicki!

It Rocks!
I really enjoyed this book because I want to become a pilot when I am old enough. It was a book that once I picked it up, I just couldn't put it down! Once it even made me have to (or want to; more likely want!) go to sleep at 12 Midnight! I found it when reshelving books at school and I just couldn't wait to start reading it. (which was around lunchtime) I really hope you enjoy it and good luck to/in your possible aviation career from being inspired from this book. I have wanted to fly for a while! Bye. (or an even better thing:buy!)