Stealing Air (19 page)

“I made all that up,” Brian said. “That stuff about selling
Blackbird
. I took a chance that Mrs. Douglas was on our side. She's rich and bored and just wants to have fun with her money. What's more fun than watching guys like us zip around on an experimental aircraft?”

“So our parents believe we no longer have
Blackbird
. We'll have to work on it in secret again,” Max said.

“Yeah, starting with its brakes.” Alex handed sodas to Brian and Max. “I can't afford to keep buying new shoes if our future landings go like our first one.”

Brian took a drink of Mountain Dew. “I was thinking we should work on her engine. You know, with some more parts, maybe we could rebuild it so
Blackbird
could take off on her own.”

“But I thought we needed more Plastisteel for all that,” said Alex.

“Yeah, but maybe Mrs. Douglas —”

“Could help us get more Plastisteel.” Max finished Brian's sentence and laughed.

Alex sat down on a stool and looked around the Eagle's Nest. “Right back where we started.”

“Not back where we started,” said Brian. “Things are better now. A lot better.” He looked at his two best friends standing next to
Blackbird
. “And the best is yet to come.”

I had the good fortune of living in Riverside, Iowa, for nine wonderful years. It is a nice, clean, safe town full of kind people. When I knew I wanted
Stealing Air
to be a small-town story, a story of the Midwest, set in Iowa, I knew Riverside would be the perfect place.

Although the Riverside in this novel is based on the real town of the same name, I have fictionalized many of its attributes and included different aspects of several Iowa towns I've known. The real town is smaller than the one in this novel. I've added several streets, naming some of them after streets in Dysart, Iowa, where I grew up. I also enriched Riverside by moving the beautiful town square from Washington, Iowa, seventeen miles north, and the large grain elevators from Dysart eighty miles southeast, placing the big cement towers near the English River so that Brian and Alex could fly
Blackbird
between them. The Riverside high school and junior high came back inside the city limits and gained a new mascot. I then had fun allowing the Riverside Roughriders to play the Trojans, the old mascot for the school district that used to serve Dysart. Thus, no real team's pride was hurt in the writing of this novel.

In real life and in this story, the English River does run along the south edge of Riverside, but for fictional purposes, I have significantly widened and deepened the river. I added a large railroad bridge across the river and borrowed the name “Runaway Bridge” from a railroad bridge that my friends and I used to explore when we were in fifth and sixth grade. Sadly, the real Runaway Bridge has been destroyed, but I have a piece of its limestone on my bookshelf, a reminder of that time of adventure and exploration.

Max and Brian are both fans of the classic TV show
Star Trek
, and they live in the perfect place for such fandom. Years ago, the Riverside City Council obtained permission from
Star Trek
creator Gene Roddenberry to declare Riverside the official future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk. Now, a stone monument proclaims that the captain will be born on that site on March 22, 2228. A large model starship very like the iconic U.S.S.
Enterprise
is usually on display out by the highway. Since Riverside has this
Star Trek
tradition, I thought that Max and Brian would be just the kind of guys to share my enthusiasm for the show.

All other aspects of
Stealing Air
are purely fictional, and I hope they are fun.

 

If you are like Brian, Alex, Max, and me and find flying fascinating, I encourage you to check out the many photos, videos, and links to airplane websites in the
Stealing Air
section of
www.trentreedy.com.

I've been periodically working on this novel for many years, and so I am indebted to many people who have helped with this story's long path to publication. Deepest thanks and heartfelt gratitude:

To all the teachers who helped shape my writing and me as a writer. To my sixth grade English teacher, Gail Gerber, for her patience with me and for assigning our class to write a story about “Freaky Frankie.” To all my other teachers. Thank you for putting up with me and for making me learn in spite of my occasional resistance.

To all good teachers everywhere. You can never be thanked enough!

To those who encouraged this novel in its earliest form. To Larry and Debbie Marshall for their kindness and for saying all the right things after reading a very early version of this novel. To Melanie Harkness for an early read and for the priceless gift of her friendship.

To Jean Harmston for sending me photographs of Riverside, Iowa, that were helpful with the cover art.

To those who offered technical advice about rockets, airplanes, skateboards, and large balloons. To Jason Harkness, whose knowledge of very large and powerful model rockets is unparalleled. To Ralph Brendler for advice about the flyer's wingspan and whose mathematical skills helped me figure out the plan for the Mr. Piggly balloon. To Lee Boekelheide for taking me flying in his Cardinal and for familiarizing me with basic flight principles and airplane controls. Brian and Alex would not have flown without you!

To my family. To my brother, Tyler, for wonderful long discussions about this story and about everything else. To my sister, Tiffany, for her encouragement and inspiration, as well as for her hospitality when book business brought me to New York. To my mother, Lu Ann, for, well, being my mother, but also for buying me books and taking me to the Dysart Public Library when I was young.

To librarians everywhere! You are our greatest champions for peace, hope, and freedom.

To my Vermont College of Fine Arts family for their generous support. I am very honored to be a part of the VCFA community. The great connections I've made there are too numerous to name here, but I'm grateful for each of them. Thanks especially to my graduating class, the Cliffhangers, in particular Patti Brown, Jill Santopolo, Carol Brendler, Carol Williams, and Marianna Baer for their help with manuscripts or other challenges in the writing life.

To the good folks at Arthur A. Levine Books and Scholastic. To Sue Flynn, Chris Satterlund, Terribeth Smith, Charles Young, and the rest of the stellar sales team. To Antonio Gonzalez, Emma Brockway, Candace Greene, Emily Clement, Paul Gagne, John Mason, Elizabeth Parisi, Lizette Serrano, and Tracy van Straaten. Thank you for all your amazing work! To Charisse Meloto, the world's greatest publicist, who brings hope and works pure magic to get the word out on my books. To Arthur Levine for a fantastic imprint. To all the other great people at Scholastic. You are incredible at what you do, and it is always an absolute pleasure to work with you.

To John and Katherine Paterson for their friendship and hospitality. To Katherine in particular for all the advice and encouragement both in the pursuit of my first publication and in helping me understand what it really means to be a writer.

To my stellar agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, who gave me my first acceptance letter as a writer. I cherish your friendship and your spot-on advice. I'm with you all the way!

To my editor and friend, Cheryl Klein. The more I work with you, the more I believe your name also belongs on the cover of the book. Thank you for your patience with me, for working so incredibly hard, and for your brilliant ideas and guidance. You have all the best ideas about story and kidlit. I salute you.

To my wife and best friend, Amanda, with all my deepest love and admiration. You are my life.

 

Finally, I must especially thank readers of this book. These words are completely inadequate in expressing how grateful I am to those who have taken the time to read my work. I marvel at the thought that even in this age of infinite distraction you have chosen to spend your valuable time with a story I wrote. I can never thank you enough or repay you for your kindness, but I promise I will do my very best to continue to offer the best stories I know how to write. Thank you once again. I wish you the very best.

Trent Reedy is the author of
Words in the Dust
, which was inspired by his experiences as a member of the National Guard in Afghanistan in 2004–2005.
Words in the Dust
was named an Al Roker's Book Club pick on the
Today Show
, an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection, and to the ALA's Amelia Bloomer Project list. Born and raised in Iowa, where he taught high school English, Trent and his wife now live in Spokane, Washington. Please visit his website at
www.trentreedy.com.