Seized by the Sun introduces teens to the remarkable life of Gertrude “Tommy” Tompkins, who overcame a debilitating childhood stutter and a repressive family life; the loss of her one true love to air combat and then an essentially forced marriage; and the social, cultural, and gender barriers of her time to find her passion in flying. She became one of 126 elite women chosen to pilot World War II fighter planes for the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Scheduled to move a P-51 Mustang from California to New Jersey, where it would be shipped to Great Britain, Tompkins apparently departed Mines Field at 4:00 pm but never arrived at her destination. No crash site was ever found. Her disappearance remains a mystery and Ure describes the movement of aviation enthusiasts and historians who continue to search for her wreck and remains in the mountains and offshore waters of Southern California. The result of sixteen years of research and interviews—including dozens of interviews with Tompkins's family and close friends, with WASPs and other flyers, and total access to the Tompkins family files, letters, and collected military documents—Seized by the Sun is an invaluable addition to any student's or history buff's bookshelf.
