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  • Dreams Take Flight: The Story of Deaf Pilot Nellie Zabel Willhite by Brittany Richman book cover
  • Dreams Take Flight: The Story of Deaf Pilot Nellie Zabel Willhite by Brittany Richman book cover
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Dreams Take Flight: The Story of Deaf Pilot Nellie Zabel Willhite

by Brittany Richman

A pioneering pilot’s path to flight

Award Winner
$18.12 USD
$30.21 USD $18.12 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Own Voices, Own Stories Award winner

    Described in the supplied publisher metadata as an award-winning book.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A pioneering pilot’s path to flight

Nellie Zabel Willhite’s biography connects her early hearing loss and difficult educational experiences with the aviation world she encountered while working at the Sioux Falls airport. The account traces how she adapted pilot-training courses to accommodate her deafness and went on to fly solo in 1928. It places her achievement in South Dakota and national history: she became the state’s first female pilot and the nation’s first deaf pilot. Author Brittany Richman, who has hearing loss, tells Nellie’s story from a perspective identified in the source as “Own Voices, Own Stories.”

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Young readers interested in biographies of pioneering aviators
  • Readers exploring disability history and the experiences of deaf people
  • Children ages 9–12 looking for juvenile nonfiction

Themes

AviationDeafness and disabilityEducation and adaptationWomen in history

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Nellie Zabel Willhite's story dips and soars like an airplane in flight.

After losing her hearing at four and following a tumultuous education, Nellie Zabel was introduced to the world of flight while working at the Sioux Falls airport. The planes and pilots captured her imagination as she watched them sail alongside the birds. With some encouragement, she enrolled in pilot training--carefully tailoring the courses to accommodate her deafness. In 1928, she took off on her own, becoming the first female pilot in South Dakota--and the first deaf pilot in the nation.

This Own Voices, Own Stories Award winning book tells Nellie's story from the perspective of an author with a hearing loss and is supported by Easterseals.

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Customer reviews

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Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

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Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

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Ella

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

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Olivia

Smooth.