Andrew Higgins built boats that could “crunch through driftwood, bounce over logs, climb a beach,” and “wham up on a sloping concrete sea wall.” In World War II, that was exactly what was needed to get soldiers and Jeeps from the ocean to land. This biography for young readers traces the invention of the legendary Higgins boat―and the adventurous childhood of the remarkable man behind it. Growing up in Kentucky in a family of readers, Nancy Rust developed a profound love of books. This passion led to her career teaching reading and literature and English as a second language at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels for twenty-five years.  Rust earned a BA in English from Western Kentucky University as well as an MA and an education specialist degree from Louisiana State University. As an educator, she sponsored yearbook and magazine publications, designed and implemented summer programs, presented at educational seminars and conferences, and wrote grants. She has written several children's books, is an accomplished poet, and has had fiction published in the Jubilee Anthology.  Rust is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, Friends of the Library, and Friends of the Humanities. She actively volunteers as a teacher and tutor with the Volunteer Instructors Teaching Adults program and works to promote public education and local schools. Rust lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, with her husband, Bill.