Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone

The Winter Olympic Games never fail to inspire. You have about 2500 athletes all vying to win 258 possible medals in 86 events. Maybe 1 out of 10 participants will win a medal. Almost all of the athletes will fail to achieve their goal. So why do they do it?

These athletes devote the prime of their lives to one brief moment in time every four years. They pour out their hearts as they train to reach their physical limits. "One more, one more, one more," they chant as they lift more weight, add more reps, and perfect their technique. Imagine the dedication necessary to match their Olympic dreams.

Some will not even qualify for the finals of their event. Some will be unlucky. Some will experience injury, and some will suffer possible embarrassment. I think of Lindsey Jacobellis who had the lead in the snowboard cross event in the 2006 Winter Olympics and impulsively decided to pop an unnecessary ollie grab with her snowboard as she was sure to win with only 140ft to go. She came down off balance, wiped out and lost the gold medal. She later admitted she was just trying to have fun.

There's so much sacrifice. The odds are stacked against them. There's no guarantee their hard work will pay-off. And, in Lindsey Jacobellis's case, when you take your eyes off the prize even for a split second the slightest miscue can spell disaster. So why do they do it?

Commitment and passion can only be understood by those who dare to dream.

Today's book is about 13 who dared to dream. These 13 individuals all wanted to be astronauts, not olympic atheletes. Most of us recognize names such as John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom. These men were part of the original Mercury 7. The Mercury Space Program's mission was to put the first man into space. Not all the guys who applied had the right stuff, however. According to NASA at the time, neither did women.

The Mercury program conducted a battery of tests that would prove if an astronaut had the right stuff. For example, astronauts were put into the MASTIF. The MASTIF, or multiple-axis space test inertia facility, was a gyroscope as big as a house. This was used to give an astronaut the experience of sitting inside a space ship that had lost control. [p.33]

Could you do the Dilbert Dunker test? This was the water survival test the astronauts had to pass. [p. 48] The Dilbert Dunker was a capsule that would speed into a pool and then flip upside down as it entered the water. Rescue divers waited above in case you couldn't get out.

How about the isolation tank? [p.22] One way to measure if someone could survive the stresses of space was to put the astronaut in isolation for a long period of time.

"Picture this: You are surrounded by complete and utter darkness, pitch black. All you can hear is your heart beating, your breath as you inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. You are floating in a tank of water the exact same temperature as your body. Where does your body end and the water begin?" [How long can you go just counting your breaths?]

At first this might seem peaceful, but think about how much silence a person can actually take without going crazy. Some subjects start hallucinating after awhile. They might hear voices, smell smoke, or start to cry because of a sad childhood memory. One subject actually lasted nine hours and forty minutes in the isolation tank.

Surprisingly, NASA never tested the Mercury 7 men in the isolation tank. Did NASA suspect that men couldn't last very long in complete isolation? Yet, thirteen women were secretly tested in the tank. One of the first women to be tested was Jerrie Cobb. Jerrie Cobb impressed NASA scientists with her ability to equal or surpass what the Mercury 7 men could do. She was the one that lasted 9 hours in the isolation tank. She proved that women could endure the stresses of space as well as or better than men. Unfortunately, NASA didn't take their test accomplishments seriously.

The Mercury 13 knew their chances were slim. They knew most NASA officials were against women joining the Mercury Space Program. They knew they shouldn't have gotten their hopes up, but they took the tests anyway.

Why did they do it? The odds were stacked against them. Why did they risk disappointment and embarrassment?

Commitment and passion can only be understood by those who dare to dream.

Read the fascinating and relatively unknown story of thirteen women who dared to dream in Tanya Lee Stone's book: Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream.

Vintage Snowmobiles by Jon D. Bertolino

Vintage Snowmobiles: The Golden Years 1968-1982

Ever broken a bogie? Ever lose your recoil? Ever seen machine parts scattered on the ground like a trail of bread crumbs?

If so, then you must be familiar with the world of vintage snowmobiles.

This is a great book for those who love old snowmobiles. A couple of my favorites are in this book. Back when I was a middle school student, our family had the candy-apple red Northway 340. The Northway could climb, it could pull, but boy was it slow. The Northway was ideal for pulling your fish house off the lake, but when you had it wide open the Northway could throw you off like a wild horse.

Then there was the Yamaha Enticer 250. I loved that machine. It only went about 60mph, but it was great on trails. If you ever got stuck in deep snow, the machine was light enough even for a middle school student to lift back onto the trail. Great vintage snowmobiles like these are sometimes cheap to buy, but expensive to run.

Take a look at the past in this great book about vintage snowmobiles by Jon D. Bertolino. And remember, oil is sometimes cheaper than parts!

They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney

There are some things in life that are too-good-to-be-true. Have you ever been on the Internet when suddenly a pop-up announces that you have just won an incredible prize or dream vacation worth thousands of dollars? "Just Click Here!," reads the pop-up. I bet for a split second some of you have been tempted to click your mouse to get that pot of gold. Schemes like this one are often too-good-to-be-true. Some get-rich-quick-schemes can also be more complicated than they first seem. Some can even lead to jail.

Have you heard of a man by the name of Bernie Madoff? At one time he was one of the most prominent and powerful people on Wall Street. Last June, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison because he was found guilty of a scheme that promised his clients their pot of gold. Movie stars, charitable organizations, and regular hard working folks all trusted Bernie Madoff. When times were tough, when other investments on Wall Street didn't pay-off big, Bernie's clients still made a ton of money, or at least that's what he told them. What really happened behind the scenes could have been called the world's largest Ponzi Scheme. As Madoff got richer he hid the fact his clients got poorer, and to keep this a secret, as they say, he robbed Peter to pay Paul.

To his clients, an investment with Bernie was a sure thing. They faithfully sent Bernie their money, and he automatically sent investment statements back to them by mail. His clients were pleased with each statement they received. Why would any of them stop after reading how much money they made with Bernie? Why would they question a sure thing? Who would want to spoil such good news?

You know what he didn't tell them. He had spent their money. Oh, there were some clients that wanted their money back. That was okay. Bernie either had enough on hand or he could find new investors and use their money to pay back what he owed to others. This kind of operation is called a Ponzi Scheme. Bernie even turned away new investors at times, just to make his operation look legit. Madoff probably could have kept the Ponzi Scheme going on indefinitely except the economy tanked. When too many of his clients wanted out, Bernie Madoff was exposed. He couldn't pay back all the money he had spent or lost-approximately 65 billion dollars worth. Had he known he'd be caught, Madoff probably would have skipped the country.

In Caroline Cooney's new book, They Never Came Back, a husband and wife are guilty of mishandling their clients' money, but they don't meet the same fate as Bernie Madoff. The couple decided to flee the country just before the FBI, IRS, SEC, and NASD could get their hands on them. They arranged to leave the country separately to make their trail more difficult to follow, but in their haste, the couple made a slight miscalculation in their masterful escape plan. They had left their ten-year-old daughter behind.

Murielle led a life on the fast track for a ten-year-old. Piano, dance, horseback riding, gymnastics, French, swimming and more were on her weekly schedule. Murielle was almost as busy as her parents. "Her parents skipped meals, ate in front of their computers or went to restaurants. Sometimes they weren't home until long after Murielle was fast asleep. Sometimes they left in the morning before Murielle was awake." (p. 84) Murielle's parents led their lives on the financial fast track, but their daughter's needs were taken care of, even if she had to eat supper with the housekeeper instead of with her mom and dad.

But, as news reports flashed on CNN about her parents, the fugitives, all Murielle could think about was when, not if, her parents would come back to get her. Maybe if Murielle could have monitored her parents the way they had meticulously managed the flow of stolen money into their secret bank accounts, perhaps she might also be seated in first class on a flight to Europe at her mom or dad's side.

Murielle should have been suspicious when her mom said they would soon go on a family vacation to England. They hardly ever went on family vacations, and if they did, her parents would spend all their time on business. This family trip would be different, her mom promised. Murielle couldn't wait. I guess her parents couldn't wait either. Some things in life are too-good-to-be-true.

Well, the FBI, IRS, SEC, and NASD didn't forget about Murielle. As the agents questioned her she grew more tense. She knew the agents were clever. She also knew what they didn't. She couldn't tell them where her parents were because she didn't know, but inside her backpack was a cell phone and a clip of money. Her mother's orders were to keep them hidden until the time was right. Murielle didn't tell the agents anything-instead she threw-up. Eventually the cell phone, the money, and even Murielle disappear. Murielle never made the call; the right time never came.

Five years later, in a place called Greenwich Village, a boy named Tommy takes a picture with a cell phone. Tommy forwards the picture to his parents. All he can think is that a miracle has occurred. A girl with an amazing resemblance to his cousin, the one who disappeared from his life five years earlier, is sitting right in front of him in the school cafeteria. When Tommy's parents see the girl in person, they begin to cry. They obviously see the amazing resemblance, too. But remember, some things in life may be too-good-to-be-true.

If you like mysteries, and you can tell this is a great mystery by the number of questions that need to be answered, then I would like to recommend Caroline Cooney's new book, They Never Came Back.