When You Dream

Daniëlla van Heerden

Megan Werner

Ages 13 to 15
31 August 2021
9781776250707
128 pages

Synopsis

Every great dream starts with a dreamer. Megan’s dream is to build a light aircraft with other teenagers and fly it from Cape Town to Cairo. Her aim is to inspire children in other African countries to follow their dreams. In 2018 twenty inexperienced teenagers from various backgrounds were provided with hands-on experience in engineering and building an aircraft. They assembled a Sling-4 aircraft from start to finish within three weeks, under the guidance and supervision of a group of senior engineers.

When they eventually take to the air more than a year later, 17-year-old Megan and her co-pilots undertake a journey full of adventure and nail-biting moments. They fly over war torn Sudan, in Egypt they almost land in jail and officials refuse to give them permission to fly over Kenya. But at last, the triumphant team reaches Cairo … just for tragedy to strike a few days later while the team are on their way back to South Africa. Megan’s father and his co-pilot die when their support plane crashes near Tanzania.

Megan however refuses that her dream be compromised by this tragedy. Her dad would not have wanted that. After writing her record exams, she and two of her co-pilots retrieve their plane and complete the flight back to South Africa.

When you dream is based on true events and is a story of courage, commitment, hope AND pain. An adrenaline filled adventure that might sound far-fetched … if it wasn’t for the fact that it is true.