Map of My Dead Pilots


Book Description

The Map of My Dead Pilots is about flying, pilots, and Alaska, the beautiful and deadly Last Frontier. Author Colleen Mondor spent four years running dispatch operations for a Fairbanks-based commuter and charter airline, and she knows all too well the gap between the romance and reality of small plane piloting in the wildest territory of the United States. From overloaded aircraft to wings covered in ice, from flying sled dogs and dead bodies, piloting in Alaska is about living hard and working even harder. What Mondor witnessed day to day would make anyone’s hair stand on end. Ultimately, it is the pilots themselves—laced with ice and whiskey, death and camaraderie, silence and engine roar—and their harrowing tales who capture her imagination. In fine detail, this series of stories reveals the technical side of flying, the history of Alaskan aviation, and a world that demands a close communion with extreme physical danger and emotional toughness.




Arctic Bush Pilot


Book Description

Backed by Wien Airlines, former Navy combat pilot "Andy" Anderson pioneered post-World War II bush service to Alaska's vast Koyokuk River region serving miners, Natives, sportsmen, geologists, adventurers, and assorted bush rats. He flew mining equipment, gold, live wolves and sled dogs, you name it -- anything needed for life in the bush. He sweated out dozens of dangerous medical-emergency flights, "always at night and in terrible storms." Illustrated with 50 historical photos and co-authored by one of Alaska's most popular writers, ARCTIC BUSH PILOT is an exciting and sometimes nostalgic account of a pioneer pilot and his special place in Alaska aviation history.




Do You Dream of Terra-Two?


Book Description

'A major new voice. Read Temi Oh today. Everybody will be reading her tomorrow' Stephen Baxter. author of World Engines 'A brilliant, beautiful debut. Reading it will change your heart' Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet meets The 100 in this unforgettable debut by a brilliant new voice. A century ago, scientists theorised that a habitable planet existed in a nearby solar system. Today, ten astronauts will leave a dying Earth to find it. Four are decorated veterans of the 20th century’s space-race. And six are teenagers, graduates of the exclusive Dalton Academy, who’ve been in training for this mission for most of their lives. It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years spent in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong. And something always goes wrong. Don't miss one of Cosmopolitans books by people of colour to get excited about in 2019, called 'a tightly wound epic' that 'will change your heart' by Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms. WHY READERS DREAM OF TERRA-TWO . . . 'An ambitious 500-page coming-of-age blockbuster . . .Oh is excellent at portraying the aching sense of loss on a one-way trip to the stars' Guardian 'A tightly wound, emotional epic that asks important questions about humanity, goodness, belief, technology, love, friendship, and duty. At what point is grabbing hold of one’s destiny ultimately an attempt to escape some other? Like all great writers, Temi Oh refuses the easy answer, instead ruminating upon the question itself. This novel is a brilliant, beautiful debut. Reading it will change your heart.' Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms 'One of the most absorbing books I have ever read' 'This book seemed to take over my life whilst I was reading it - if I wasn't actually reading, I was thinking about it' 'I'm in love with this book . . . It is a beautiful, sprawling, literary delight with an unforgettable cast undertaking an unforgettable journey.' 'For fans of the character-driven The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet series, Terra-Two is perfect . . . A strong, haunting, character-driven story . . . This book and its characters will stay with you for a long time.' 'Do You Dream of Terra-Two succeeds both as a great sci-fi story and a brilliant drama . . . Even though you expect things to go wrong in this story, they still wrong foot you when they do. 5*. 'Beautifully written . . . It's inspirational to read' 'I would love to be able to write like Temi Oh. I should start taking notes . . . Highly recommended!'




Lost in the Never Woods


Book Description

When children start to go missing in the local woods, a teen girl must face her fears and a past she can't remember to rescue them in this atmospheric YA novel, Lost in the Never Woods from the author of Cemetery Boys. It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into the light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road... Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, asks for Wendy’s help to rescue the missing kids. But, in order to find them, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods. Praise for Aiden Thomas and Cemetery Boys: “This stunning debut novel from Thomas is detailed, heart-rending, and immensely romantic.” —Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift “Aiden Thomas masterfully weaves a tale of family, friendships, and love in a heartwarming adventure full of affirmation and being your best self." — C.B. Lee, author of Not Your Sidekick




The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles


Book Description

Readers of Flying the Alaska Wild marveled at Mort Mason’s true tales of braving the elements at the extremes in a Piper Super Cub. But the bush pilot, adventurer, and raconteur was just beginning, and in this book he revisits his most memorable moments of flying by the seat of his pants through blizzards and white-outs, on assignments at times hazardous and sometimes simply whacky, always with a sense of humor and due respect for the limitless wilds of Alaska beneath his wings. The world of a bush pilot really is the final frontier, and for thirty years Mort Mason was there, clocking enough heart-stopping miles to make most life-stories utterly incredible. In The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles Mason recounts more of his unlikely adventures in the face of Alaska’s unforgiving weather and terrain. His stories gives readers the rare chance to experience the disappearing thrills and challenges of meeting the American frontier on its own unyielding terms.




Alaska's Skyboys


Book Description

This fascinating account of the development of aviation in Alaska examines the daring missions of pilots who initially opened up the territory for military positioning and later for trade and tourism. Early Alaskan military and bush pilots navigated some of the highest and most rugged terrain on earth, taking off and landing on glaciers, mudflats, and active volcanoes. Although they were consistently portrayed by industry leaders and lawmakers alike as cowboys—and their planes compared to settlers’ covered wagons—the reality was that aviation catapulted Alaska onto a modern, global stage; the federal government subsidized aviation’s growth in the territory as part of the Cold War defense against the Soviet Union. Through personal stories, industry publications, and news accounts, historian Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth uncovers the ways that Alaska’s aviation growth was downplayed in order to perpetuate the myth of the cowboy spirit and the desire to tame what many considered to be the last frontier.




Other Words for Smoke


Book Description

Voted Teen & YA Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards. From the award-winning author of Spare and Found Parts comes a story of a haunted house, magic behind the wallpaper, and the strangest summer ever. The house at the end of the lane burned down, and Rita Frost and her teenage ward, Bevan, were never seen again. The townspeople never learned what happened. Only Mae and her brother Rossa know the truth; they spent two summers with Rita and Bevan, two of the strangest summers of their lives... Because nothing in that house was as it seemed: a cat who was more than a cat, and a dark power called Sweet James that lurked behind the wallpaper, enthralling Bevan with whispers of neon magic and escape. And in the summer heat, Mae became equally as enthralled with Bevan. Desperately in the grips of first love, she'd give the other girl anything. A dangerous offer when all that Sweet James desired was a taste of new flesh...




Missing, Presumed Dead


Book Description

When eighteen-year-old Lexi foresees the brutal murder of a young woman outside a club in downtown L.A., she is powerless to stop it. But then the girl’s ghost appears, seeking vengeance, and Lexi is swept into a dangerous search that could put her directly in the path of a serial killer. From the author of Devils Unto Dust, this fast-paced and literary thriller will haunt fans of Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious and Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying. With a touch, Lexi can sense how and when someone will die. Some say it’s a gift. But to Lexi it’s a curse—one that keeps her friendless and alone. All that changes when Lexi foresees the violent death of a young woman, Jane, outside a club. Jane doesn’t go to the afterlife quietly. Her ghost remains behind, determined to hunt down her murderer, and she needs Lexi’s help. In life, Jane was everything Lexi is not—outgoing, happy, popular. But in death, all Jane wants is revenge. Lexi will do anything to help Jane, to make up for the fact that she didn’t—couldn’t—save Jane’s life, and to keep this beautiful ghost of a girl by her side for as long as possible. Emma Berquist’s second novel is a haunting and atmospheric murder mystery that tackles themes of depression, loneliness, love, and identity. This high-concept novel is for fans of Holly Black’s The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series.




Blank Spots on the Map


Book Description

Welcome to a top-level clearance world that doesn't exist...Now with updated material for the paperback edition. This is the adventurous, insightful, and often chilling story of a road trip through a shadow nation of state secrets, clandestine military bases, black sites, hidden laboratories, and top-secret agencies that make up what insiders call the "black world." Here, geographer and provocateur Trevor Paglen knocks on the doors of CIA prisons, stakes out a covert air base in Nevada from a mountaintop 30 miles away, dissects the Defense Department's multibillion dollar "black" budget, and interviews those who live on the edges of these blank spots. Whether Paglen reports from a hotel room in Vegas, a secret prison in Kabul, or a trailer in Shoshone Indian territory, he is impassioned, rigorous, relentless-and delivers eye-opening details.




Cowboys of the Sky


Book Description

For more than 80 years, bush pilots have carried supplies, delivered mail, and transported emergency personnel over Alaska's rugged terrain. They've flown with felons handcuffed to the seat, with corpses strapped to the wing, and with drugged polar bears sleeping in the cargo compartment. Ever since aviation came to Alaska planes have been far more important than cars or truck to the residents of the far-flung bush communities. In Cowboys of the Sky: The Story of Alaska's Bush Pilots, humorist and historian Steven C. Levi takes you on a wild ride through the heyday of aviation in Alaska, from the golden years, before federal regulations curbed the more dangerous and outlandish flying practices, all the way to the present. Through photographs and anecdotes, you'll meet brave and colorful pilots, the true cowboys of the sky who carved the face of America's Last Frontier.