• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 5 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Robbie Carter is adjusting to his new life in late-1950s Toronto with his single mother, an engineeer with the airplane manufacturer A.V. Roe. One night, waking to the buzz of voices, Robbie creeps downstairs and makes an astonishing discovery. His mother and her colleagues are working on plans for the Avro Arrow, a new fighter jet capable of unheard-of speeds! Determined not to miss a word, Robbie continues to spy on their meetings.

Charles Reid, a Londoner by birth, spent his early years surviving the London Blitz. It was these early experiences that inspired his first novel, Hurricanes over London. After a stint in Britainâ??s Royal Navy, Charles returned to civilian life and went on to have a successful sales career, both in his native England and in his adopted land, Canada. Upon retirement he found there was still some unfinished business that needed his attention. He had noticed the dearth of any serious attempt to bring to a younger generation of Canadians the contribution made by previous generations to the cause of freedom. He started with the story of Willie McKnight, the fighter pilot whose exploits were revealed in Hurricanes over London. In this novel, he combined his own experiences of the turbulent war years of his childhood with those of this legendary fighter pilot, who became a hero to his generation. Continuing his idea of bringing stories of famous Canadian achievements to readers, his next book, Chasing the Arrow, revealed the political mistakes that led to the demise of one of the worldâ??s great fighter planes, the Avro Arrow. In his latest novel, he has brought together a number of stories in the same vein. Ghost of Heroes Past covers both world wars and the Russian Revolution. These stories tell of the exceptional courage displayed by men and women in all branches of the services. Charles Reid makes his home in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Charles Reid's profile page

Chasing the Arrow