Flying Against the Wind: A Story About Beryl Markham (Creative Minds Biography)

A biography of the first person, man or woman, to fly alone across the Atlantic nonstop from England to North America, from her childhood in Africa to her record-setting flight

Grade 3-6?Beryl Markham was the first person to fly solo from England to North America. This book covers her childhood in East Africa, her career as a racehorse trainer, and her passion for flying, and ends with her transatlantic flight. Bowen stays strictly focused on the aviator but gives few details of her personal life other than the relationships that had a major impact on her professionally. The writing is somewhat dry, and areas of Markham's life are alluded to and then glossed over. For example, during her second marriage, she had a son. The author states, "Beryl didn't want a child, and left [him] in England" with her mother-in-law. No other mention is made of the child until the end of the book when a visit to him is noted. Readers may be confused by such unexplained behavior. Occasional black-and-white decorative drawings illustrate the book. An afterword briefly summarizes the aviator's life from her historic flight to her death. An additional purchase.?Allison Trent Bernstein, Blake Middle School, Medfield, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An entry in the Creative Minds series presents an enticing view of aviator and writer Beryl Markham. Brought up in British East Africa in the early 1900s, the girl Bowen reveals had free rein to pursue her tomboyish interests on her father's farm, where he trained racehorses. The story takes readers through her marriages and her adventurous lifestyle, to her acquaintance with the new invention, airplanes. Bowen enhances this abbreviated version of Markham's life with quotations from her contemporaries; when it appears, Markham's own writing also reinforces the storytelling. The book builds to an exciting crossing of the Atlantic in 1936, and closes with an afterword. Black-and-white watercolors convey only mild sense of the subject's appearance, offering more in the way of atmospherics than facts. This is a capable introduction to a captivating achiever. (bibliography, index) (Biography. 7-11) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3^-6. Bowen recounts the early life of English aviatrix Markham, beginning with her childhood in East Africa and continuing through her 1936 solo transatlantic flight from London to Newfoundland. Markham was raised by her father on a farm in the bush, where she learned to train horses. After an unsuccessful marriage at age 17, she learned to fly and became the first woman in Kenya to obtain a commercial pilot's license. Eventually she caught the attention of John Carberry, who financed her Atlantic flight. While praising Markham's strength, courage, and determination, the author does not condone her weaknesses, either. Markham was married three times, abandoned her only child, and seemed to have difficulty settling into a career or relationship in later life. Illustrated with black-and-white sketches. This will appeal to aviation history buffs and those looking for stories about strong women. Kay Weisman