A worthy new addition to the recent spate of books about the famous aviatrix, Burleigh's story
concentrates on Earhart's 1932 solo flight from Newfoundland to Ireland, placing compelling poetic
emphasis on her single-hearted struggle. "Why? Because 'women must try to do things as men have
tried, '" writes Burleigh, quoting Earhart. Terse two-sentence stanzas tell a story focused upon the flight's
trials: a sudden storm ("the sky unlocks"), ice buildup on the plane's wings, a precipitous plunge toward
the Atlantic's frothing surface, and a cracked exhaust pipe ("The friendly night becomes a graph of fear").
The loneliness of the effort is finally relieved over a farmer's field, where Amelia lands and says, "Hi, I've
come from America." Minor's illustrations maintain tension by alternating between cockpit close-ups and wide views of the plane crossing the foreboding ocean. Predominant reds and blues convey the pure excitement of the nail-biting journey. An afterword, along with Internet resources, a bibliography, and a column of Earhart quotes, increases the book's value for curious children who might want more. Finally, Minor's endpapers, with a well-drawn map and mechanical illustration of the plane Earhart called the"little red bus," also work to inspire further learning.
-- Karen Cruze

BOOKLIST, February 2011, *STAR

- SLJ February 2011

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic

Wiseman/Simon, 2011 [40p] ISBN 978-1-4169-6733-0 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-6

Noted picture-book biographer Burleigh here turns his attention to legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, tracing her 1932 solo transatlantic flight, the first such by a woman. Present-tense third-person narration follows Earhart from her sunset takeoff from Newfoundland through her storm-wracked fourteen-hour crossing to her safe landing in Ireland. Burleigh's lyrical language ("Rivers of quicksilver darkness drown the moon") is even more figurative than in his biographies of Tenzing Norgay (Tiger of the Snows, BCCB 6/06) and Admiral Byrd (Black Whiteness, BCCB 2/98), but there's plenty of concrete detail from Earhart's life and words, and it's an effective combination for evoking the strange, risky experience of Earhart's flight. Minor favors warm tones in his gouache-and-watercolor illustrations, making the most of Earhart's ruby-red plane against the gloom of night (there's even an illustrator's note about later modifications to the plane) in creatively varied perspectives. In fact, so many of the shots are external, focusing on the plane's details, that the visuals are oddly impersonal partners for the intimate individuality of the text; the few views of Earhart herself (almost always through the windshield) effectively capture her determination without glamorizing her. This could be a dramatic readaloud as well as a readalone, and it's a vivid in medias res introduction to Earhart for kids not ready for Taylor's Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean (BCCB 2/10). End matter includes a biographical afterword, a bibliography and list of internet resources, and a collection of (unsourced) quotations from Earhart. DS

--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB), February 2011

This vivid free-verse account of Amelia Earhart's 1932 flight from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland, the first-ever solo transatlantic flight by a woman, settles into the cockpit and describes what the legendary pilot might have seen and felt during that long, tense, exhilarating trip. Minor's paintings heighten the immediacy, depicting Earhart's blazing red Vega in both long shots and close-ups, braving the mercurial sky. Although Burleigh's imagery is sometimes overwrought, he succeeds in making the danger feel real, as when a storm ices the wings, pushing the plane down toward the ocean. "How close is the water's surface? She bursts through the lowest clouds. / There it is, rushing toward her. Near. Nearer." Such a harrowing night makes Minor's exquisitely rendered ocean sunrise and the subsequent sight of land seem all the more gorgeous, exemplifying one of the quotes attributed to Earhart in the back matter: "The lure of flying is the lure of beauty." And, as Night Flight suggests, the lure of feeling alive. The endpapers include a map of Earhart's flight path, and there is a list of resources.
--The Horn Book, March/April 2011

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic

Illustrated by Wendell Minor. 2011. 40pp. $16.99 hc. Paula Wiseman Books (Simon & Schuster). 978-1-4169-6733-0. Grades K-3
From start to finish, children are engaged in Amelia Earhart's adventure as she becomes the first woman to pilot across the Atlantic Ocean by herself. End pages depict a sketch of Earhart's single-engine plane, a compass, and a timeline. Told in third person, the reader feels and hears everything Amelia experiences as she journeys from Newfoundland, Canada, to Northern Ireland. Minor's magnificent paintings capture the excitement of the adventure from start to finish through a variety of perspectives. Writing and illustrations are perfectly matched to take the reader from an ascending plane traveling toward blue skies to a vessel fleeing a darkened thunderstorm, nose-diving toward the treacherous Atlantic waters. As Earhart's knuckles whiten and flames stream out of a cracked exhaust pipe, readers wonder what is to become of her. Morning comes and sunlight breaks through as Earhart lands with a jolt in Northern Ireland's countryside. An afterword includes a historical biographical note and a technical note about the plane. Also included are a bibliography, Internet resources, and a selection of famous quotes by Amelia Earhart.

--Library Media Connection, May/June 2011