Wings for J.R.

Book excerpt: She was 22 years old when in 1941 her brother disappeared mysteriously while at work in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania. Six years later-while working in Pittsburgh's Allegheny Air Traffic Control Tower-J.R. Saunders got the phone call she'd been waiting for. "You've got to come home right away," her dad, a pilot, exclaims. "I found the wreckage of a plane, and I think it may explain Mark's disappearance." With the help of her dad and boyfriend, J.R. treks deep into dense woodlands searching for clues leading to her brother's death. As one of only a handful of female air traffic controllers, J.R. uses her governmental connections, determination, and independent spirit to chronicle the disappearance of her brother against the backdrop of the Second World War. J.R.'s exposure to the political and cultural environment of the late forties provides not only the opportunity to solve the mystery but also an awakening experience that changes her life forever.