The alternating voices of foster siblings Emmy and Teo describe their life together in the 1920s and early 1930s, first in the United States and then in Ethiopia, where they are caught in that emerging nation’s internal and international struggles. Teo’s mother, Delia, who was Black, and Emmy’s mother, Rhoda, who is white, were pilots who performed together in stunt shows. After Delia’s death, Rhoda moved the children to Ethiopia, fulfilling Delia’s dream for their family. Over the next five years, tensions begin to rise between the Ethiopian government and the Italians just over the country’s borders. At the same time, Haile Selassie is trying to bring his country into the 20th century while not offending the interests of the powerful Ethiopian landowners. Rhoda learns she won’t be able to keep Teo out of a war that seems inevitable when they learn Teo’s Ethopian father, long dead, was enslaved, meaning Teo, by law, is enslaved. The man who owns Teo demands his service to fly an ancient relic to safety before the war breaks out. Teo disappears while doing so, and Emmy, also a pilot, goes in search of him. Elizabeth Wein’s richly layered novel is dramatic, detailed, and gripping, with both main and secondary characters fully realized. Her author’s note goes into great detail about what is fact and what is fiction in her story, as well as providing additional historical context for the political history of Ethiopia. (Age 14 and older)

Don’t miss Elizabeth Wein’s stunning new novel, Stateless

Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird strike brought down the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes-in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. But in 1930s America, a white woman raising a black adoptive son alongside a white daughter is too often seen as a threat.

Seeking a home where her children won't be held back by ethnicity or gender, Rhoda brings Em and Teo to Ethiopia, and all three fall in love with the beautiful, peaceful country. But that peace is shattered by the threat of war with Italy, and teenage Em and Teo are drawn into the conflict. Will their devotion to their country, its culture and people, and each other be their downfall or their salvation?

In the tradition of her award-winning and bestselling Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein brings us another thrilling and deeply affecting novel that explores the bonds of friendship, the resilience of young pilots, and the strength of the human spirit.