April 16, 1912: The first woman flies across the English Channel.

I've been trying to highlight older books in this series, but I'm going to go ahead and use Harriet Quimby's flight across the English Channel as an excuse to, once again, mention how fabulous Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity is: IT IS SUPER-DUPER-ULTRA FABULOUS, AND I SAY THAT EVEN THOUGH IT MADE ME CRY BUCKETS OF TEARS.

(Speaking of buckets of tears? Ten months after Harriet Quimby—she of the custom-made, purple satin flying suit—made the English Channel crossing, she and her manager died during an exhibition.

From Eyewitness to History:

On July 1st, during an exhibition, Harriet flew the event's manager with her to Boston Light at the harbor's entrance. On the return leg, the crowd watched in horror as the plane suddenly lurched and first the manager and then Harriet were flung to their deaths in the harbor 500 feet below. Harriet's aviation career had lasted only eleven months - her candle had burned briefly but brightly.

Ag. But, back to happier things: LIKE HER JUMPSUIT.)

Anyway, Code Name Verity. Love it.

Love it, love it, love it some more.

Comments

[jmfausti]

I expect to start reading Code Name Verity by this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it!

[Eliza]

Such an excellent book. LOVED it. Even though it ripped my heart out of my chest, tore my heart into tiny pieces and then stomped on those pieces, I forgave it because it is such an excellent book. However, I'm not quite ready to reread it yet. I do have the audiobook loaded on my iPod when I'm ready to relive the pain (but I'm not sure about the ugly crying in public) as I've heard the audio version is excellent. I still can't believe it didn't win BoB.

jmfausti - Just be sure that you have a new box of tissues handy! Can't wait to hear what you thought about it.

[Julie]

Yeah.... I knew going in that it was a crying book, but not that it was a "sobbing hard enough that I'm having a hard time hiding it from my 1-year-old" book. It makes you want to start it again immediately to readjust your perspective on every page, but I'm still not sure if I can put myself through it again.