The Fun of It-Daughter of the Sky

"The Fun of It" (1932) is Amelia Earhart's second book after her travelogue "20 Hrs., 40 Min.". In it Earhart recollects how she became interested in being an aviator, which led to her establishing several firsts for women, and also becoming aviation editor for Cosmopolitan Magazine. She also profiles the careers of other pioneering female flyers of her time. Earhart also encourages young women to follow their own careers and dreams. The title comes from her quote "Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price."

"Daughter of the Sky" by Paul L. Briand Jr. (1960) is based on the eyewitness account of former Saipan resident Josephine Blanco Akiyama, who said that as a young girl she saw a silver plane fly over and later saw a Caucasian couple surrounded by Saipanese. She said the two were led away by Japanese soldiers, that shots rang out and the soldiers returned alone. Briand concluded that Ms. Akiyama had seen Earhart and Noonan; his book proposes that problems with navigation equipment during the night resulted in Earhart turning north instead of flying east, and that Noonan, either incapacitated or asleep, failed to correct the error. When the sun rose, Briand posits that they looked for land and saw Saipan. Being out of fuel, they ditched in the harbor at Tanapag, where they were captured by the Japanese and executed as spies.

"The fun of It" includes 31 images

"Daughter of the Sky" includes 5 images

Due to copyright restrictions this eBook is available in the United States only.