Talking Books Talk

Talking Books Talk provides news and updates about the Kansas Talking Books Service (KTBS). Talking Books staff will highlight relevant announcements from KTBS and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

Questions: KTB@ks.gov or 800-362-0699

View All Posts

Jul 24

Amelia Earhart Talking Book Bibliography

Posted on July 24, 2019 at 10:53 AM by Michael Lang

Amelia Earhart Talking Book Bibliography
Amelia Earhart Portrait, head and shoulders, facing front.
Amelia Earhart. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2004671909/>.

Adult Non-Fiction

DB 32801 Amelia Earhart: a biography by Rich, Doris L. Reading time: 11 hours, 27 minutes.

Although much of Earhart's early life was spent in poverty with no real home for seven years, she emerged with a sense of independence and a standard for achievement and honesty. Before her disappearance in 1937, she became not only a famous woman aviator, but also a champion of women's rights and a co-founder of one of the first commercial airlines.

DB 45559 East to the dawn: the life of Amelia Earhart by Butler, Susan. Reading time: 24 hours, 31 minutes.

Describes Earhart as an adventurous child who grew up to be the most famous female pilot of the 1920s and 1930s. Butler provides details about Earhart's private life and the men in it besides her husband. She traces Earhart's role in aviation history and discusses her disappearance in the Pacific during her around-the-world flight in 1937.


DB 92057  Fly girls: how five daring women defied all odds and made aviation history by O'Brien, Keith. Reading time: 12 hours, 15 minutes.

An account of how a group of female pilots banded together to fight for the chance to compete in airplane racing, a hugely popular sport in the years between WWI and WWII. Profiles five talented pilots, including Amelia Earhart, and the competition and camaraderie they shared. Commercial audiobook. 2018.


DB 33805 The sound of wings: the life of Amelia Earhart by Lovell, Mary S. Reading time: 19 hours, 22 minutes.

Amelia Earhart, world renowned for her feats as a female pilot, was born in 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. She disappeared in 1937 over the Pacific Ocean, during a flight around the world. The author tells the story of Earhart's tomboy childhood, her love for her alcoholic father, and her fascination with airplanes, but the emphasis is on her symbiotic relationship with George Putnam, her husband and publicist.

DB 45404  Whistled like a bird: the untold story of Dorothy Putnam, George Putnam, and Amelia Earhart by Chapman, Sally Putnam & Mansfield, Stephanie. Reading time: 9 hours, 44 minutes.

Using diaries kept over a fifty-year period, Chapman writes of the relationship between heiress and adventurer Dorothy Binney Putnam, publisher George Putnam, and aviator Amelia Earhart. Putnam left his wife, Dorothy, for Earhart but the three remained friends.


Adult Fiction

DB 44456 I was Amelia Earhart: a novel by Mendelsohn, Jane. Reading time: 3 hours, 31 minutes.

Fictionalized account of the aviatrix's last days on a small Pacific Island, assuming that she and navigator Fred Noonan survived the crash that ended their attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937. Reminiscences of childhood, marriage, and planning for the historic flight are interspersed with day-to-day survival efforts and occasional moments of joy in Noonan's company.

DB 24789 Circumpolar! by Lupoff, Richard A. Reading time: 11 hours, 2 minutes.

This exuberant science fiction/history adventure begins in the 1920s with an offering of $50,000 to the first aircraft that circumnavigates the poles. The author envisions an alternate universe and has real pilots like the Red Baron, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, and Amelia Earhart competing in the race.

For Younger Readers


DB 29143  Amelia Earhart: aviation pioneer by Chadwick, Roxane. Reading time: 57 minutes.

Little girls in the early 1900s were expected to wear long skirts, play quietly with dolls, and learn to cook and sew. Amelia and her younger sister, Muriel, like to wear bloomers, fish, play baseball, and do many things usually reserved for boys. Amelia would grow up to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She showed that women could have careers in the so-called men's professions. For grades 3-6.

DBC05137
  Amelia Earhart: the legend of the lost aviator by Tanaka, Shelley. Reading time: 50 minutes.

Ever since Amelia Earhart and her plane disappeared on July 2, 1937, people have wanted to know more about this remarkable woman. Amelia Earhart follows the charismatic aviator from her first sight of an airplane at the age of ten to the last radio transmission she made before she vanished. For grades 3-6.

DB 73290
  Amelia lost: the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Fleming, Candace. Reading time: 4 hours, 26 minutes.

Biography of pilot Amelia Earhart offers an account of her attempt to circumnavigate the globe--a journey that ended when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in July 1937. Discusses Earhart's adventurous nature, the difficulties of long-distance flight, and the lack of navigational equipment aboard her plane. For grades 4-7. 2011.

DB 33569  Lost star: the story of Amelia Earhart by Lauber, Patricia. Reading time: 1 hour, 55 minutes.

From Earhart's July 1, 1937, take-off on her final flight, the author flashes back to her childhood and youth, tracing her race through life from her early "tomboy" behavior and willingness to meet challenges in spite of the opinions of others. This spirit led to her pioneer trip as the first woman to cross the Atlantic by plane and her tragic final attempt to fly around the world. For grades 4-7 and older readers.

DB 15004
   By the seat of their pants: the story of early aviation by Ault, Phillip H. Reading time: 5 hours, 23 minutes.

History of early aviation with detailed stories of flights, people, and planes. The narrative opens with an account of Amelia Earhart and her companions, lost over the foggy Atlantic, seeking help from an ocean liner below by dropping messages in paper sacks weighted with oranges. For junior and senior high and adult readers.