Jerome - Who Was Amelia Earhart?

Who Was
Amelia Earhart?

Who Was
Amelia Earhart?

By Kate Boehm Jerome

Illustrated by David Cain

Grosset & Dunlap New York

With love to another fearless aviator
my husband, Robert JeromeKBJ

For Laighton Hall Cain
whose imagination soarsDC

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Text copyright 2002 by Kate Boehm Jerome. Illustrations copyright 2002 by David Cain. Cover illustration 2002 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Putnam, Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in USA.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jerome, Kate Boehm.

Who Was Amelia Earhart? / by Kate Boehm Jerome; illustrated by David Cain.

p. cm.

Summary: Examines the life of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart, who mysteriously disappeared during an around-the-world flight in 1937. 1. Earhart, Amelia, 1897-1937Juvenile literature. 2. Air pilotsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Women air pilotsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. [1. Earhart, Amelia, 1897-1937. 2. Air pilots. 3. WomenBiography.] I. Cain, David, 1951- ill. II. Title.

TL540.E3 J47 2002

629.13092dc21

2002007760

Amelia Earhart was a pioneer. This doesnt mean she traveled west in a covered wagon or lived in a log cabin. It means she had a special spirit. She liked to be the first to do new things.

In the 1920s, Amelia became a pilot. This was in a time when the airplane was still a new invention. Not many people knew how to fly one. It was even more unusual for a woman to fly planes. But Amelia set many flying records to prove that she was the best.

Amelia helped start the airline business in the United States. She also was a writer, a speaker, and a fashion designer. But it all started from her love of flying.

Amelia was a pioneer in another way, too. She thought that women deserved to have the same rights as men. This was at a time when women were fighting for the right to vote. Many people still thought women were not strong enough or smart enough to have jobs outside the house. But Amelias actions proved that bravery and brains were not for males only.

Unfortunately, Amelia did not live to see old age. Just before her fortieth birthday, she tried to set a new record. She wanted to be the first woman to fly all the way around the world. But Amelia and her plane went down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. She was never seen again.

Most people remember Amelia Earhart for the last event of her life. But this is a story about everything that came first.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born in her grandmothers house in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. The house was high on a hill. It had eleven rooms. Maids and a cook worked there. Dinner was served on fine china.

Amelias mothers parents had a lot of money. But Amelias father had trouble keeping a job. Edwin Earhart could barely make the payments on the family house in Kansas City. There were always money worries. But Amelia loved her parentsespecially her handsome, funny father.

When Amelia was seven, her father had enough money to take the family to see the Worlds Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

Twenty million people came to the 1904 Worlds Fair. Forty-five countries set up exhibits. At the St. Louis Fair there were Eskimo villages and Japanese gardens. Each nation and state showed something about its own culture.

Amelia and her younger sister, Muriel, saw a big roller coaster at the fair. When she got back to Kansas City, Amelia tried to build one in her yard.

Muriel, Amelias uncle, and another friend helped. Wooden tracks ran from the top of a shed to the yard below. A little buggy rolled down the tracks. The tracks were greased with fat to make the buggy go faster.

Always the bravest kid on the block, Amelia was the first to try out the roller coaster. She dragged the buggy up to the top of the tracks and got on. Her sister held her feet. When Amelia gave the signal, Muriel let go. Amelia went down headfirst and crashed!

Did this stop Amelia? Not at all. She and her friends made the slope of the tracks less steep. Then she got on the buggy again. This time she made a good run. She loved the speed. And it was almost as if she were flying through the air!