Part of Series
Jesse Rodriguez has a pretty exciting job for a 13-year-old, working for his friend Buck at a small flight and skydiving school near Seattle. But he still can't wait to turn 16 and finally be old enough to make his first free-fall jump from a plane. Buck has been like a father to him ever since Jesse's dad died, and has made sure that Jesse picks up all he needs to know about skydiving while he does odd jobs around the airport. But Jesse and his friend Robin Waterford have also learned something very disturbing. Someone's been using the airport to smuggle members of a Central American drug cartel into the United States, and Jesse's worried that Buck is involved. Jesse and Robin find themselves in the middle of a dangerous international situation, and are forced to make their first jumps sooner than they ever expected!
Author
Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read—along with his own library card—he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another. Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adventure. A youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor; and two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod; have provided ample material from which he creates his stories. Paulsen and his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, an artist who has illustrated several of his books, divide their time between a home in New Mexico and a boat in the Pacific.
