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History

    Alan Biermann noticed when his children were early readers that there were very few real stories of real heros for this level of student. After spending a career as a professor of computer science at Duke University, he retired and undertook the project to publish the Chuck Yeager story of breaking the sound barrier. He is of the opinion that every American child will want to read this great story and that the new generation of children should know this part of their heritage. He joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), wrote several drafts of the book "Chuck Yeager Goes Supersonic," and received much guidance from the wonderful members of this organization. Then he was fortunate enough to find the inspired artist Yaejin Lim to do the illustrations. Thanks go to Jewel Wheeler who introduced Alan to SCBWI and then showed him the webpage that enabled him to find Ms. Lim. Susie Wilde has been extremely kind in editing the later versions of the text and improving clarity and readability. She introduced us to Julia Gignoux who became our book designer. Now our book is finally published and available on Amazon.com.

    Alan is indebted to many individuals who have contributed to the project. JP Cafaro, a Duke University engineering student, created the program to show off the sound waves of a flying plane especially as it approaches and breaks through the sound barrier. Several teachers in the local schools invited Alan to come to their classes and share the book as it was being developed. Thank you Karoline Mathewson, Nancy Cheek, and Sharla Coleman. Daniel Heuser also tried the book out in his class and gave us some helpful suggestions. In New Hampshire, Ellen Cameron showed the book to her class and they voted on which of several possible covers should be used when it was published. The classroom experiences brought some surprises for the author as students explained what they liked and understood about the story and what they felt needed improving. Their contributions stimulated some rewriting and a better book for children. The author is grateful to a long list of friends and neighbors who read versions of the book and returned suggestions. Several members of the SCBWI organization who have been especially supportive and helpful are Barbara Younger and Bonnie Bader.