Michael Ferrari's first book, "Born to Fly," was developed from the manuscript for his Master's thesis and it received a 2007 Delacorte Yearling award, which honors the writing of contemporary or historical fiction set in North America.

Ferrari, who teaches screenwriting at Oberlin College and Ohio State University, got the idea for "Born to Fly" at a World War II airshow, where he overheard a boy telling his little sister that girls could never be fighter pilots. Set during WWII in Rhode Island, Ferrari's story is narrated by eleven-year-old tomboy Bird McGill, who befriends a young Japanese-American student who her classmates think is a spy.