Flying Boats & Spies: A Nick Grant Adventure
Dodson, Jamie. Flying Boats & Spies: A Nick Grant Adventure.
Madison, AL: OnStage Pub., 2008.
234 pp. $9.50 (paperback)
The year is 1935, and outside of San Francisco sixteen-year-old Nick Grant dreams of being a pilot. But Nick must struggle to make good grades in school and help support his family while his father is away. Working as an assistant airplane mechanic, Nick has a chance meeting with Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Anne secretly gives Nick a package to deliver. This mission presents Nick with an opportunity to get a good-paying job aboard the supply ship, the SS North Haven, though he must lie about his age and run away from home. Unbeknown to Nick, he is now immersed in a deadly game that begins when Nick’s boss is murdered for the very package Nick has delivered.
Nick’s adventure takes the reader island hopping across the Pacific as the Japanese try to obstruct Pan American Airlines’ mission to set up bases for their flying boats, which are crucial in aiding China against a Japanese invasion. Nick meets many colorful and memorable characters throughout his adventure, which even includes a little romance. A resourceful, brave, and self-reliant Nick returns home a hero in this satisfying, easy read. The book ends with a great cliffhanger paving the way for the second book in the Nick Grant Adventure series.
Flying Boats & Spies is ideal for middle school students who love history, especially wartime nonfiction, adventure, or historical fiction. The technical information about the military, airplanes and aviation, historical facts, and historical characters appeals mostly to boys. The dialogue and character development are somewhat simplistic for the average high school and adult reader but may be good for some lower level teen readers. I recommend this book to middle and high school libraries, as well as public libraries.
Andrea Moreau
Library Media Specialist
East Hancock Elementary
Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: August 10th, 2010
