The Many Lives of Eddie Rickenbacker

by Andrew Speno

Overview

The life story of a daredevil who became a war hero will fascinate adventurous young readers with its tales of survival.

At age thirteen, following the death of his father, young Eddie dropped out of school and joined the workforce. Through a combination of smarts, hard work, and perseverance, Rickenbacker would grow up to become an automobile mechanic, a race car driver, a fighter pilot, an entrepreneur, a war hero, a business executive, and a staunch advocate for hard work and personal responsibility.

Along the way he lived on the line between recklessness and courage. He survived dozens of accidents, coming close to death more than once. During the earliest years of American automobile racing, Rickenbacker was “the most daring and withal the most cautious driver” on the circuit. How could he have been both daring and cautious? This book invites young readers to decide for themselves as they follow Rickenbacker on his many hair-raising adventures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821424315
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Series:	Biographies for Young Readers
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Andrew Speno is a teacher and the author of The Great American Foot Race. He enjoys cooking, listening to live music, attending live theater, and playing Go. He and his family live in Cincinnati.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

1 Black Sheep of the Family 1

2 Man of the House 10

3 Moving Up in the World 17

4 King of the Dirt-Track Racers 25

5 Hat in the Ring 36

6 Ace of Aces 46

7 Grounded 56

8 At the Controls 66

9 Mayday 73

10 Descent and Landing 82

Timeline 95

Captain Eddie's Advice to Young People, 1953 99

Glossary 101

Acknowledgments 105

Notes 107

Bibliography 115

Editorial Reviews

A fast-paced, white-knuckle thrill ride from start to finish, Speno’s book takes young readers from the racetracks of the Indy 500 to the bullet-riddled skies of World War I, bringing them along on the exciting, action-packed journey of one of America’s greatest war heroes.”—Ben Thompson, author of the Guts & Glory series


“Full of cars, races, and airplane adventures, this biography of Eddie Rickenbacker is sure to appeal to readers who love everything speedy. Never mind that the WWI ace was born in the nineteenth century, there’s nothing dusty about this chapter book, part of the Biographies forYoung Readers series….A story of initiative, this is more substantial than the Who Was? Series, making it a good stepping stone from those beginner bios to longer nonfiction works.”—Booklist


“Drawing on Rickenbacker’s ghostwritten memoir and contemporaneous accounts, Speno takes readers from adventure to adventure even as Rickenbacker helmed Eastern Air Lines between the wars before returning to service with the Army Air Forces during World War II. Did You Know? featurettes conclude each chapter, offering tidbits of related trivia, and callout boxes provide context when necessary. Numerous archival photographs depict the White ace in dashing poses throughout. A lively chronicle of a colorful, exciting, risk-filled life.”—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

11/13/2020

Gr 4–6—Eddie Rickenbacker (1890–1973), a white American World War I veteran who was born in Ohio, lived a multifaceted life. After his father died, Rickenbacker went to work at the age of 13. When he was 15, Rickenbacker got a job at Frayer-Miller, an automobile workshop. At the age of 17, Rickenbacker became chief testing engineer at Columbus Buggy Company. One way to garner publicity for the new vehicles was to race them, so for a while, he acted as a car salesman during the week and a test driver on the weekends. Eventually, he started racing full-time and later bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During World War I, Rickenbacker served as a fighter pilot. In 1934, he was chosen to be the general manager of Eastern Air Lines. When World War II broke out, Rickenbacker traveled to motivate and inspire the troops, and to relay confidential messages. When his plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean, Rickenbacker and the crew spent a little over three weeks at sea in a lifeboat. This extensively researched work incorporates primary sources and archival photographs. The text describes both positive and negative elements of Rickenbacker's personality and achievements. The formal writing style may dissuade young readers at first, but the pace picks up once Rickenbacker starts racing cars. VERDICT Patient readers will gain insight into a unique life story. Collections centered on local Ohio history will have a special interest in this title.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's Sch., Richmond, VA

School Library Journal

2020-09-02
The adventurous, daredevil life of war hero Eddie Rickenbacker is revealed in a briskly paced narrative.

One of eight children of German-speaking Swiss immigrants, Rickenbacker possessed a reckless fearlessness, creating a contraption consisting of an old bike with a large umbrella tied to it that he attempted to fly off a roof. Thirteen-year-old Rickenbacker dropped out of school when his father died and held a series of jobs, eventually settling on automotive engineering. Rickenbacker went from building cars to racing cars. Known for his abandon on the track, he became a “national figure, competing against the best in the sport in races from coast to coast.” When the United States entered World War I, the Army rejected both Rickenbacker’s attempt to enlist and his proposal to recruit American race car drivers to pilot fighter planes. The ever persistent Rickenbacker was trained by the French to be a fighter pilot and quickly downed enough enemy planes to earn the title “Ace of Aces.” Drawing on Rickenbacker’s ghostwritten memoir and contemporaneous accounts, Speno takes readers from adventure to adventure even as Rickenbacker helmed Eastern Air Lines between the wars before returning to service with the Army Air Forces during World War II. “Did You Know?” featurettes conclude each chapter, offering tidbits of related trivia, and callout boxes provide context when necessary. Numerous archival photographs depict the White ace in dashing poses throughout.

A lively chronicle of a colorful, exciting, risk-filled life. (timeline, glossary, chapter notes, bibliography) (Biography. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews