Books with title Blimps

Teenage obesity has certainly been in the news in recent years. Indeed, the number of teens who are clinically overweight has more than doubled in the past three decades, and growing awareness of this phenomenon prompts release of Ann Abelson's BLIMP in digital format. This "young adult" novel was published in 1983, when the problem was just beginning to come to public attention.The book centers around Kim, an overweight 16-year-old who begins therapy to address the real causes behind her obesity. Her narrative overlaps with the considerably more serious story of her boyfriend, Gary, who attempts suicide. Remarkably enough, both students triumph. Gary also seeks therapy, while Kim proves that she can indeed shed those unwanted pounds. The late Ann Abelson was author of other titles on Amazon: PAGANINI'S FIRE (2011), A SLOW TRAIN TO BUDAPEST (2013), and A SLOW TRAIN TO BUDAPEST, PART 2: INTERLUDE IN EDEN (2015). Her young adult novel, BLIMP, was originally published by Dutton under her married name (Cavallaro). The title garnered glowing reviews and was selected for the New York Public Library's "Books for the Teen Age, 1984" list. More than thirty years later, the thematic subject is even more relevant.Ann Abelson also had two earlier novels to her credit: ANGEL'S METAL (Harcourt, Brace, 1947) and THE LITTLE CONQUERORS (Random House, 1960).

A blimp, a huge helium-filled balloon-like airship, begins as an immense polyester bag. As it is filled with helium, it begins to rise, eventually floating 1000 to 3000 feet above the ground. But a lot happens between the time a blimp is first inflated and when it begins its first flight. Munro, the author/illustrator of The Inside-Outside Book of New York City and other titles , has filled this book with facts and information. She explains, in a readable style, how blimps are made (including the installation of the gondola, where passengers and crew travel), manned, maneuvered and moored, and addresses such questions as why blimps are so big and what it is like to ride in one. But it is the ink and watercolor illustrations that best capture the serenity and weightlessness of these dirigibles; Munro's portraits of these beauties in flight will astonish and awe readers. ~Publisher's Weekly