Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 12/01/2010 Drawing on her training as a historian and her considerable writing talents, Fleming (The Great and Only Barnum, 2009) offers a fresh look at this famous aviatrix. Employing dual narratives—straightforward biographical chapters alternating with a chilling recounting of Earhart’s final flight and the search that followed—Fleming seeks to uncover the “history in the hype,” pointing out numerous examples in which Earhart took an active role in mythologizing her own life. While not disparaging Earhart’s achievements, Fleming cites primary sources revealing that Earhart often flew without adequate preparation and that she and her husband, George Putnam, used every opportunity to promote her celebrity, including soliciting funds from sponsors. The use of a gray-tone background for the disappearance chapters successfully differentiates the narratives for younger readers. Frequent sidebars, well-chosen maps, archival documents, and photos further clarify textual references without disturbing the overall narrative flow. Appended with a generous bibliography and detailed source notes, this is a book most libraries will want both for its fascinating story and as an illustration of how research can alter historical perspective. - Copyright 2010 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2011 Since we know the end of Amelia Earhart’s story so well, it’s hard now to imagine it as anything other than inevitable. Fleming cleverly structures this biography to give the tale of tragedy a fresh and dreadful impact; she intercuts the as-it-happens account of the public and private response to Earhart’s failure to appear as scheduled at Howland Island with the chronicle of the famous flyer’s youth and growth into celebrity. The book offers a clear-eyed exploration of Amelia’s difficult childhood and how her later reports were tailored for public consumption; in fact, there’s emphasis throughout on the way Earhart, with the aid and even direction of her husband, George Putnam, devoted perhaps more effort to the calculation of her public image than to her actual flying skills. The result is a portrait that eschews adulation and offers considerable contemporary resonance but still keeps its subject sympathetic. It also keeps the stakes high in the interwoven account of the final tragedy, effectively documenting the strangeness of a disaster that unfolds through absence and disappearance rather than drama; particularly intriguing are the accounts from a few random radio listeners who claim to have picked up fleeting, desperate messages from Earhart’s plane around the time of its disappearance, sharpening the what-might-have-been tension. As a result, this offers not only a provocative introduction to Earhart but also compelling glimpse of what it was like to watch her disappear from the world. Extensive end matter includes a thematically divided bibliography, an annotated list of web resources, and thorough source notes; an index will be included in the bound book. DS - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 03/01/2011 Gr 4–7—Ho-hum history? Not in Fleming's apt hands. What could be a dry recitation of facts and dates is instead a gripping and suspenseful thriller. Even though readers likely know the end of the story, Fleming makes this book difficult to put down by moving between several accounts of Earhart's disappearance and her chronological life story. Quotes from primary sources are woven so seamlessly throughout that it seems as though the individuals involved are telling the story. The Art Deco-inspired book design and excellent black-and-white photographs help to transport readers back in time. Fleming has made a phenomenal woman accessible to a new generation of readers; she unapologetically shows Earhart as a real person and dispels the mythology surrounding her. Exploring more than just her famous flights, she introduces Earhart's other pursuits. Being a pilot in the early 20th century was prohibitively expensive and Earhart had to be a savvy businesswoman willing to try anything and everything to earn enough money to stay in the sky. With G.P. Putnam, a proficient publicist behind her, she not only influenced the future of popular culture, but also forged a path of opportunity for women to follow. Fame is a business, and Earhart and Putnam worked steadily to achieve it; the legend of Amelia Earhart is a testament to their hard work. This book is splendid. Hand it to everyone.—Heather Acerro, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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