Friday, October 26, 2018

Epic Fails: Wright Brothers: Nose-diving into history by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson

This is a new, nonfiction series that combines cartoons, black and white photos, and brisk, humorous prose to tell the stories of famous failures.

The authors tell the story of the famous Wright brothers, starting from a massive crash at Kitty Hawk and moving through many set-backs, failures, and discouragements until they finally succeeded. The authors include stories of the brothers' early life, their financial struggles, the wider context of scientific research (and not-so-scientific research....) into aviation, and graphic stories of their struggles, experiments, and setbacks.

Pop culture references may eventually date the title, but they definitely make the story pop. Ha. Couldn't resist. The authors include the influence of the brothers' sister, Katharine, and hilarious accounts of their dangerous and uncomfortable experiments, how nutty people thought they were, and simple and understandable explanations of the science involved.

Verdict: This is a fun new series that's sure to appeal to fans of Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, the Who Was series, and any kids interested in history, science, and humorous stories. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781250150561; Published 2018 by Roaring Brook; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

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