“I earned my first pilot license at the age of 19. One day, it hit me that I should just try to fly around the world.” Barrington Irving (The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers)
National Aviation Day is observed on August 19th. On this day, we celebrate the history of aviation, past and present industry trailblazers, and all forms of air transportation from airplanes to spaceships. The exciting fiction and nonfiction books on this list include picture, chapter, middle-grade, and young adult titles. Across the country, students are returning to school, and these books are perfect for fun and inspirational STEM reading. Pick up a few for your classroom, community, or home library. Also, stay tuned for these books coming soon: Through the Telescope: Mae Jemison Dreams of Space by Charles R. Smith Jr. and Evening Monteiro (Orchard Books, 2025) and To the Moon (First Second, 2026), the second volume of Leland Melvin’s Space Chasers series. Happy National Aviation Day!
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1. Let’s Fly!: Barrington Irving’s Record-Breaking Flight Around the World
Barrington Irving | Chana Stiefel | Shamar Knight-Justice | Dial Books | January 14, 2025 | PB
2. Astro Girl
Ken Wilson-Max | Candlewick | November 16, 2021 | PB
3. One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Lifelong Mission
Katherine Johnson | Joylette Hylick | Katherine Moore | Charnelle Barlow | National Geographic | January 5, 2021 | PB
4. Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight
Karyn Parsons | R. Gregory Christie | Little, Brown BYR | December 1, 2020 | PB
Markette Sheppard | Charly Palmer | Millner/Simon & Schuster BYR | May 5, 2020 | PB
Roda Ahmed | Stasia Burrington | HarperCollins | January 9, 2018 | PB
7. Wind Flyers
Angela Johnson | Loren Long | Simon & Schuster BYR | January 9, 2007 | PB
Natasha Anastasia Tarpley | E. B. Lewis | Knopf BYR | June 10, 2003 | PB
9. Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
Nikki Grimes | E. B. Lewis | Orchard Books | November 1, 2002 | PB
10. Blast Off!: Abby in Orbit (Bk. 1)
Andrea J. Loney | Fuuji Takashi | Albert Whitman | November 22, 2022 | Chp Bk
11. Exploring Flight! (Ada Twist, Scientist: The Why Files #1) (The Questioneers)
Andrea Beaty | Dr. Theanne Griffith | David Roberts | Harry N. Abrams | December 14, 2021 | Chp Bk
12. Calvin Spann: Daring Fighter Pilot
Duchess Harris | Samantha S. Bell | Core Library | December 15, 2019 | Chp Bk
13. Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? (Who Was?)
Sherri L. Smith | Who HQ | Jake Murray | Penguin Workshop | August 7, 2018 | Chp Bk
14. How to Survive on the Moon: Lunar Lessons from a Rocket Scientist
Joalda Morancy | Aaron Cushley | Neon Squid | February 4, 2025 | MG
15. Space Chasers
Leland Melvin | Joe Caramagna | Alison Acton | First Second | February 4, 2025 | MG
16. Star Sailor: My Life as a NASA Astronaut
Charles F. Bolden, Jr. | Tonya Bolden | Candlewick | October 22, 2024 | MG
17. Unlawful Orders: A Portrait of Dr. James B. Williams, Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon, and Activist
Barbara Binns | Scholastic Focus | October 18, 2022 | MG
18. Segregated Skies: One Pilot’s Trailblazing Journey to Rise Above Racial Barriers
Michael H. Cottman | National Geographic Kids | December 21, 2021 | MG
19. Chasing Space (Young Readers’ Edition)
Leland Melvin | Amistad BYR | April 10, 2018 | MG
20. You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
Carole Boston Weatherford | Jeffery Boston Weatherford | Atheneum BYR | May 3, 2016 | MG
21. Black Eagles: African Americans in Aviation
James Haskins | Scholastic | January 1, 1995 | MG
22. American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky
Sherri L. Smith | Elizabeth Wein | Putnam | January 16, 2024 | YA
23. American Ace
Marilyn Nelson | Rocky Pond Books | January 12, 2016| YA
24. Flygirl
Sherri L. Smith | Penguin Books | September 16, 2010 | YA
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