Amelia always liked to try new things, ‘first-time things.’ And she loved to make things go. She would go sledding down steep icy hills lying flat on her stomach, which wasn’t considered proper for girls, but the ride was fast and more thrilling that way. After seeing her first ‘rolly coaster’ when she was seven, she built her own in the backyard using long planks propped against the roof of the tool shed.

Have you ever wanted to do something for the first time? Not the first time you’ve ever done it, but the first time anybody has ever done it? Did you ever see someone do something so frightening and so terrific that you knew in your heart that you had to be the next person to accomplish that feat? Amelia Earhart had those dreams, and she set out to prove to the world that she would work as hard as she could, and do anything it took, to make those dreams come true.

Amelia Earhart was daring and courageous and adventurous and probably what people today would call an adrenaline junkie. She looked up and saw, not clouds and birds and an unreachable sky, but an infinite highway of travel, journey and adventure. She was determined to do what no other woman had ever done, travel across the Atlantic and prove to everyone that it was a new age and a new world and that women were every bit as capable and equal as men.

It wasn’t long before Amelia had achieved her dream of being the first female to travel as a passenger across the Atlantic. Now she was ready for her next journey, to be the first female to pilot her own plane across the Atlantic. From there, it would be around the entire world!

We all know how the story ends, but that doesn’t make her life any less thrilling and awe-inspiring. This picture book biography of the most famous female aviator in history will hopefully inspire you to follow your own dreams and dare to go where the journey takes you.

Other books you might enjoy:

• Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride by Pam Muňoz Ryan
• Women of the Wind: Early Women Aviators by Wanda Langley
• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

A Whole New Ball Game: The Story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Sue Macy