The Reading Warehouse

High in the sky, Bessie Coleman could soar like a bird. She was free--at least until she landed. As a black woman in the 1920s, she wasn't allowed to learn how to fly. Forced to travel to France to learn, she became the first African American woman to earn her pilot's license. Whether she was wing-walking, giving a speech, parachuting, or flying, Coleman inspired people with her bravery and resolve.

Janice Lee Porter was born and raised in Chicago. She has a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from California State University, Chico. She is the illustrator of over two dozen children's books and is an art faculty member at Shasta College in Redding, California, where she teaches painting and drawing. She lives in Chico, California.

Sally M. Walker has been a children's book writer for over 20 years. Most of her books are nonfiction and present various science topics to young readers. Fossil Fish Found Alive is the story of the hunt for the elusive fish called the coelacanth. Sally also enjoys combining science investigation with historical topics. Her book Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which won the 2006 Robert F. Sibert Medal, tells about the history, loss, and re-discovery of the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in battle. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland takes readers on archaeological expeditions, where the forensic analysis of colonial settlers' bones helps us to understand their lives. Sally especially enjoys writing narrative nonfiction that captures the reader's attention with a true story. She is also the author of 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book Champion: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut.