Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.31, 2014, under Adventure, Historical Fiction, Sam's Reviews
Who would like this book? Readers, grades 5 and up, looking for an exciting story of a wild girl growing up in Africa in the early 1900s who grows up to be the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from England to Canada.
The goods on this book: As she was growing up on her father’s horse farm in British East Africa (Kenya), Beryl Markham’s goal was to become a warrior in the Nandi tribe with which she spent most of her time. Her mother had fled back to England soon after she was born, leaving her under the care of her father, who was pre-occupied with raising and training horses. Beryl’s experiences with the Nandi include all kinds of adventures in the jungle, but trouble looms as she grows from girl to woman. Her father’s various attempts to force her to become a proper British girl bring out her fierce spirit, which makes for captivating reading! Interspersed among the story of Beryl’s childhood are diary entries and newspaper articles that cover the momentous transatlantic flight that she made in 1936. Her tenacity and fearlessness link the two stories and one can’t help but be cheering for her all the way. If you like hair-raising adventure based on a true story, then this book is for you.
The details: 262 pages; 2011 Review by Samrarian
