Young readers will love the legend of the great American aviator, Chuck Yeager, who grew up from humble beginnings to become the first person to fly a plane faster than the speed of sound. This beautifully illustrated book shows scenes of Chuck as a boy in rural West Virginia, describes his wild flights as a test pilot in the U. S. Air Force, and recounts the terrifying bumping and rattling flights as he neared the "sound barrier." The book presents a chapter on what the sound barrier is and why it is so dangerous. The reader can experience, with Chuck, the beautiful moment of success as his rocket plane breaks through to supersonic speeds. Young people will remember always this heroic story and the legendary pilot who took the world of aviation into a new era. From Kirkus Reviews: "Engages young readers' imaginations, respects their intelligence and takes them along on an exciting, real-life adventure . . . An excellent work of children's nonfiction that just may inspire the next Chuck Yeager." From Clarion Reviews: "Beautiful and vivid . . . a portrait of a very human Yeager, a man who was not only passionate and immensely knowledgeable about flying but also an individual who worked hard and overcame significant obstacles to reach his goal."
About the Author: With a father in the airplane propeller business, Alan Biermann spent a lot of time around airplanes in his early years. During high school and college, he worked in the factory each summer assembling propellers for single and twin engine aircraft. Later he became a sailplane pilot and flew many flights over the Mojave Desert near where Captain Yeager had broken the sound barrier. Then he spent his career as a professor of computer science, mostly at Duke University, and wrote a textbook that has been used widely throughout the United States and abroad. When his children, especially his son, reached the early-reader stage, they very badly wanted to read real stories about real heroes and few if any could be found at their reading level. He wrote this book to give modern-day early readers a story that his own children would have loved if they had been given the chance. Alan lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife, Alice Gordon. They enjoy very much their two granddaughters, Isabel and Sophia, and their parents who live nearby.