Stella North, 17 (white), the only female contestant in Europe’s first air race for young people, represents Britain; she prefers no one know she escaped the Russian Revolution as a young child. The August 1937 race aims to promote peace and unity at a time when fascism is rising in Europe. The other pilots fly for Germany, Italy, Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The wealthy British woman race organizer and two experienced WWI fighter pilots from Germany and France are among the chaperones. Stella’s first meeting with bristly Tony Roberts, the pilot representing France, is both exhilarating and unsettling; it’s soon clear that he’s also harboring secrets about his past. The first race day, Stella sees a plane seemingly attacked by another before crashing into the ocean. The organizers are skeptical of her report until the Italian contestant never arrives at the first layover. As Stella tries to unravel the truth behind the attack and other acts of sabotage, the political landscape impacts the calculus of whom she suspects and whom she can trust. She finds some surprising allies among the other competitors even as the safety of a few of them is more and more uncertain. Realizing that surviving the race, not winning it, is the real challenge, Stella is determined they’ll all make it through alive. Gradually revealed backstories add depth to characters and their burgeoning relationships, while danger on the ground and in the air heightens tension in this riveting work of historical fiction. (Age 12 and older)

When a teen pilot witnesses a plane deliberately knocked out of the sky in what is supposed to be a friendly international air race, she must unravel the mystery before becoming a victim herself. A stunning new historical thriller from New York Times bestselling Elizabeth Wein.

Europe, 1937. Stella North, who has learned to fly planes as a teen, has the opportunity to participate in a race across Europe for a hefty sum of prize money. The race is billed by its eccentric organizer, Lady Frith, as the "Circuit of Nations Olympics of the Air" and is designed to promote peace and sport among Europe’s young pilots; entrants must be under the age of 21.

Europe pre-WWII is an unsettled and dangerous place: civil war is raging in Spain, Hitler is in power in Germany, Italy has embraced Fascism, and in the Soviet Union, anyone who speaks out against the government is ruthlessly imprisoned and executed. The air race is going to be an unusual propaganda event for many of the participants. Stella needs to be careful as she navigates her way across Europe’s troubled skies, not least because of her own family background (her parents were murdered during the Russian Revolution, and her aunt and uncle fled to Britain with her when she was only three.)

Nevertheless, she is shocked when she witnesses one of the race’s participants using his plane to ram another pilot out of the sky. Early evidence points to the sullen and enigmatic French pilot, Tony Roberts, but he also claims that his own plane has been sabotaged. As events unfold, further evidence points to Stella herself — to outside eyes, it appears that she may be attempting to get rid of a competitor and pushing the blame onto her fellow racers. It’s up to Stella to unravel the mystery before she becomes the assassin’s next victim.