In the summer of 1937, Amelia Earhart is the most famous woman in the world – a record-breaking pilot, a best-selling author, and a modern woman shattering the glass ceiling in the early days of aviation.

And then she vanishes.

In Tampa, Florida, 15-year-old Lizzie Friedlander spends her afternoons glued to her father’s radio, tapping into the enormity of a world she longs to travel. Lizzie can hardly believe her ears when she picks up a radio signal from a faraway source that sets her heart racing: “Amelia Earhart calling SOS!”

As Lizzie copies down the transmissions, it’s clear that the Amelia Earhart is not lost at sea, as the newspapers are dreading, but alive and calling for help. In a race against time, Lizzie must convince the local Coast Guard that the radio transmissions were real and that Earhart’s life hangs in the balance. But will anyone believe her?

Written for audio by David R. Gillham, the acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author of City of Women, and performed by Emily Bauer and Hilary Huber, Alone with the Stars is a breathtaking and illuminating tribute to a woman who risked her life in pursuit of new heights, and the young girl who tried desperately to save her when everything went wrong. Inspired by actual events, Alone with the Stars reveals, in riveting detail, the final moments in the life of a great heroine, whose courage changed the world forever.

I feel like this story just fell short of what it was attempting. It was an intriguing take on the Amelia Earhart and the girl who famously thought she heard some of her last transmissions, but there were points where it either didn’t go far enough, or was just a little over the top. It has huge themes regarding how women and young girls were viewed at the time, and what Amelia did to break those stereotypes.

I think a little more length and some softening of the extreme points (such as when they are talking to the Coast Guard) would have made it amazing. It was still enjoyable, but I feel it could have been better.

Happy reading!