Stormchaser: Into the Eye of a Hurricane (Risky Business)

Many people in our world face the unique demands of special careers. The Risky Business series gives you an up-close-and-personal profile of people who do things most of us would never dream of doing. As you read about them, you'll find out what worries them and what excites them about their jobs. You'll also learn how each person trained to become an expert in his or her field.

Grade 4-5?One of a series depicting exciting careers from smokejumper to rodeo clown, this title follows Brian Taggart, pilot of a hurricane-tracking system run by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), allowing readers to accompany him and a group of scientists as they fly into a storm to determine its speed, course, and severity. The text is a tad dry, but full of information on the requirements for such a specialized job and the general usefulness of the work being done, and nicely larded with quotes from Taggart. A reasonable amount of meteorological information is included, making this an enrichment book for science units on weather in general and hurricanes in particular. The whole is accompanied by a profusion of color photos (some stiffly staged), a list of the names of hurricanes into the year 2000, a three-title list for further reading, a list of web sites, and an index. This title is a modest addition to the career shelves, and a quick look into the behind-the-scenes mechanics of hurricane tracking by on-site human teams in our common ocean of air, rather than from remote satellites orbiting the Earth.?Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.