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1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fleming, Candace. 2011. Amelia Lost: the Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 9780375841989
2. PLOT SUMMARY
This factual account of Amelia Earhart’s life is an eye-opener like no other biography written about her. Author Candace Fleming carefully and painstakingly sifted through vast quantities of documents and other sources of information to uncover only the truth about Amelia Earhart’s life and those final days of her existence. Fleming begins the book with an account of events that took place early on July 2, 1937, the day Amelia Earhart was due to land and complete her objective of flying all the way around the world along the equator. Then Fleming goes back in time to relate the story of Amelia Earhart’s birth and childhood. Afterwards, the story shifts back to July 2, 1937 and the developments of that particular day. Candace Fleming continues to tell Amelia’s life story in this manner or pattern of shifting between the final days of her life and the ones leading to it. Her last days of life beginning on July 2, 1937 and the search for her on the following days are written on gray pages. Amelia’s life before that date is written on white pages. The result is a story that is so compelling readers will be reluctant to put the book down.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This biography consists of 18 parts in addition to the bibliography, index, notes, picture credits, and the navigating history. A table of contents clearly documents these sections. The 18 sections are half on gray paper and half on white to distinguish between the events before and after July 2, 1937. The text is well written and easy to understand. Most of the illustrations are black and white actual photographs that have captions written with them. It’s a pleasure to really see Amelia as a baby, child, and adult. The book also contains pictures of newspaper articles, cartoons, magazine articles, flyers, report card, Amelia’s pilot’s license, marriage license, pages from her logbook, telegrams, postage stamp, personal letter, and maps. Candace Fleming also incorporates educational boxes or sidebars to further educate readers. For example, on page one she includes a website that readers can log onto and see on video how difficult it was for Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan to find Howland Island from the air. She included explanations for flight call letters, bloomers, Morse code, and other useful details and trivia that readers will find beneficial. Fleming’s bibliography is well documented, and in her own words, she describes how time intensive it was to weed out myths and share only facts from a vast amount of archival and research material. Amelia Lost was well worth the time spent because it is an excellent piece of work.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
KIRKUS Book Review Stars, 2011- “A stunning look at an equally stunning lady.”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Book Review Stars, 2011- “Fleming has made a phenomenal woman accessible to a new generation of readers; she unapologetically shows Earhart as a real person and dispels the mythology surrounding her.”
BOOKLIST: “this is a book most libraries will want both for its fascinating story and as an illustration of how research can alter historical perspective.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “This honest depiction of Earhart's professional and personal life forms a complete portrait of a complex woman, making her final doomed flight (and a reproduction of a teenager's notebook transcription of what may have been Earhart's last radio transmission) all the more affecting.”
5. CONNECTIONS
• Other junior biographies on Amelia Earhart to explore:
Leavitt, Amie Jane. AMELIA EARHART. ISBN 9781584155768
Feinstein, Stephen. READ ABOUT AMELIA EARHART. ISBN 0766025829
Shore, Nancy. AMELIA EARHART. ISBN 1555466516
• Using the Morse code chart on page 17 of AMELIA LOST, invite the children to write a secret message.
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