The boy who couldn't fly: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The boy who couldn't fly: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The boy who couldn't fly is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Verral, Charles Spain (1904–1990).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
The boy who couldn't fly by Charles Spain Verral is a juvenile aviation adventure short story written in the late 1930s. It follows a determined high-school boy with a leg brace whose passion for flying collides with bullying and parental fear, leading to a test of skill and courage in the air. Dan Sutherland, secretly obsessed with aviation and mocked for “flying” a homemade cockpit in his barn, clashes with swaggering classmate Jerry Blackwell, who flaunts a new Ross Comet and humiliates Dan at school. When Jerry coaxes Dan into a flight and recklessly stunts to scare him, a botched loop puts the plane in a deadly spin; Jerry panics and bails out. Alone, Dan slides into the pilot’s seat, recalls the spin-recovery drills he practiced in his mock plane, and coolly brings the Comet out of the spin and lands it. The onlookers condemn Jerry’s cowardice, while Dan’s father—who had opposed flying since the crash that killed Dan’s mother and injured Dan—admits the truth of his fear, expresses pride in his son’s composure, and promises proper aviation training and a real airplane.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The boy who couldn't fly
- Author credits: Verral, Charles Spain (1904–1990)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Aeronautics -- Fiction
- People with disabilities -- Fiction
- Short stories
- Teenage boys -- Fiction
Read this edition
View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
Sources
More in Books & Authors
Keep reading
