In Clear Lake, Texas, a group of astronauts has begun training for the Challenger mission. Among them is a teacher named Christa McAuliffe, the woman chosen to be the first teacher in space. When Annie meets Christa, she is fascinated by her determination and courage. Following Christa's NASA journey through the news, Annie sees that Christa seems to be an ordinary person, like Annie herself, and yet Christa is reaching amazing heights-like flying on the space shuttle. Feeling so inspired, Annie is devastated when the shuttle launch turns to tragedy. But Annie must remember that Christa would have wanted her to keep reaching for her dreams, despite any obstacle.

Witness the true story of how Mary Wilkins Ellis’ childhood passion for flying led to an exciting career in the air, written and illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist. As a child, Mary Wilkins Ellis longed to fly, but she had to wait until she was 16 before she could have her first lesson. She soon became the youngest licensed pilot in her English county, but then all civilian flight was banned when Germany launched its attacks on Britain in 1940. Mary was grounded. One day she chanced to hear a radio appeal for Britons with pilot’s licenses—even women—to join the Air Transport Auxiliary and ferry brand new fighter planes to Royal Air Force bases. Mary immediately applied, and spent the rest of the war delivering hundreds of different kinds of aircraft—most of which she’d never flown before—forming lifelong bonds with her colleagues, surviving many a close call, and helping to save her country from destruction. After the war she became a flight instructor, ran an air taxi service, then managed an airfield, the only woman in Europe to do so. In her spare time, she won rallies in her racing car. Mary’s childhood dream became a thrilling lifetime aloft, lasting until she died at 101. With watercolor and ink illustrations which perfectly capture the exhilaration of flying, Taking Off brings this little-known figure and her can-do spirit to life. Extensive material in the back of the book includes additional information about Mary Wilkins Ellis and the Airport Transport Auxiliary, as well as sources.

One day, middle-aged Manhattanite Peter Leroy receives an unsettling postcard from a childhood classmate. With his wife, Albertine, he returns to his hometown of Babbington, Long Island, and finds it both transformed and strangely the same. For Babbington has been "redefined" as a theme park, in a scheme to draw tourists to the struggling community, complete with trained actors, cultural interpreters, and carefully designed simulations of small-town 1950s life. On the wall of Legends restaurant, Peter sees his own commemoration: a picture of the triumphant day when, as a fifteen-year-old boy, he landed on Babbington's Main Street in the aerocycle he had built in his parents' garage, having flown four thousand miles to New Mexico and back. Hailed in newspapers as the "Birdboy of Babbington," the youthful inventor reveled in his fame---but never disclosed the truth behind his flight. Now Peter wants to set the record straight---and with Albertine as his muse and conscience, he begins. Taking Off is the first in a trilogy of novels about Peter Leroy's magical flight and its digressions along the way. Funny, warm, wise, and artful, this book---like all of its companion novels about Peter and his world---explores matters little and large with a light touch. Readers familiar with and new to these novels will delight in the wide-ranging invention and imagination of Peter's creator, Eric Kraft.

International author, speaker and world traveller, Merrian Styles shares her experiences living as an expat for over twenty years, travelling to over 25 destinations worldwide. In this book the author shares decades of tips and strategies that are essential for survival and successful living and working abroad. Merrian is renowned as the "Expat Expert". You'll learn: - What it takes to be paid to travel - Strategies from the greats, how they did it, how I did it, and how you can too - The essential keys to successful living and working overseas - How intuition, insight and self-evaluation contribute to your success - How to feel on top of the world regardless of where you are living - The critical top 10 tips for your safety and survival while travelling abroad - The everlasting benefits and rewards of taking that leap into the unknown.

2003 marks the centennial of manned flight, a major anniversary for an Earth-shattering accomplishment. The papers contained in this volume were presented at the 2003 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting.

Maryellen strives to invent a flying machine, become famous, and get her sister's wedding off the ground.