The Jerrie Mock Story: The First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World by Nancy Roe Pimm

On April 17, 1964 (exactly 52 years ago today), Jerrie Mock landed her Cessna 180 single-engine plane, which she named "Charlie," at the Port Columbus Airport, claiming her title as the first woman to fly solo around the world.  When I started to read The Jerrie Mock Story: The First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World by Nancy Roe Pimm (Lexile: Unknown; Interest Level: Grades 3-6), the first thing that surprised me was that Jerrie Mock was from Newark, Ohio.  This means that she lived just over 30 miles from where I attended high school!  

Many people credit Amelia Earhart with the first solo flight around the world, but Amelia Earhart flew with a navigator, and it was during her attempt at a flight around the world that she went missing.  Jerrie was a housewife and a mother of three children, one of whom was only 3 years old when she did her famous flight!  This biography is a good story about her flight around the world, and it contains some interesting side notes about the places or people she encountered.  Anyone interested in aviation would enjoy this book, as well as anyone interested in amazing women. (168 p.)

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