Seventy years after her disappearance, Amelia Earhart continues to excite our imaginations. In Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator, award-winning writer Shelley Tanaka explores the famed aviator’s life, recounting her remarkable achievements both in the air and in challenging entrenched attitudes about what women could (and should) do.

Tanaka provides an in-depth chronicle of Earhart’s flying history, but the book’s comprehensive biography also fleshes out this well-known narrative. Drawing heavily on Earhart’s own writings, the book depicts its subject as passionate, pragmatic, and often funny; a likable figure highly relevant to 21st-century readers. Pithy anecdotes from Earhart’s formative years – her mother, for example, encouraged her daughters’ adventurous spirits by sewing them bloomers instead of skirts to play in – show the roots of Earhart’s determination and pluck, while chapters on her stint in Toronto as a military nurse (during which her interest in flying was piqued), and her first career as a social worker, highlight her commitment to social justice.

Tanaka pulls off the biographical balancing act with ease, providing plenty of detail without losing sight of the bigger picture. As a result, kids will learn about much more than Earhart. Informative sidebars contribute facts about early aviation and aviators, and a bibliography points readers to additional print and web sources. The book is equally satisfying on a visual level, with Ontario artist David Craig’s fine watercolour illustrations and extensive historical photographs providing colour and interest.