   | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2018 Gr 6–8—A fact-filled title sure to boost the confidence of aspiring inventors. Slader and Thompson write in a conversational and understanding tone: "If at first you don't succeed…you're not the only one. In fact, you're in pretty good company." The authors incorporate a number of valuable lessons and themes into their history of the Wright brothers. Middle schoolers will benefits from the reminder that discoveries and inventions happen in fits and starts. Though the Wrights were the first to successfully invent, build, and fly the first airplane, the history of aviation is ancient. The authors go back in time and trace the long record of human attempts at flight, including the ancient Greek myth of Icarus. The book is full of amusing black-and-white illustrations and photographs, which will attract readers. Students will particularly appreciate the inclusion of the Wrights' drawings that show "wing warping," which Wilbur Wright discovered while playing with a cardboard box. VERDICT An informative and humorous addition to middle school STEM biography collections.—Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 06/01/2018 As befits an entry in a series titled Epic Fails (after the lead author’s history blog), this account of the efforts of the Wright brothers and other early aviators to get a flying machine into the air and, much trickier, to control it focuses on crashes, casualties, and setbacks. An opening quote from Douglas Adams (“There is an art to flying . . . The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss”) sets the tone as, with cogent references to Icarus and Wile E. Coyote, the authors fill in the history of unpowered flight and then take the Wright brothers through a series of frustrating and often catastrophic learning experiences to triumph at Kitty Hawk. That triumph ultimately connects to Apollo 11, which landed on the moon with a piece of the first Wright Flyer aboard. Throughout, it’s the stubborn determination of Wilbur, Orville, and their influential sister, Katharine, that shines through. A mix of sometimes comical pen-and-ink sketches and small period photographs illustrate this animated tribute to the spirit of invention. - Copyright 2018 Booklist. Loading...
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