(KAIR)--A new book, being called "a landmark biography of Amelia Earhart's life and legacy," is set for release July 15, just days before its author appears at Atchison- Amelia Fest.

According to a release from Amelia Earhart Festival Coordinator Jacque Pregont, author Laurie Gwen Shapiro, a past, Atchison festival guest, will make an exclusive festival appearance at the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, on the morning of Friday, July 18, at 10:00, with the release saying Shapiro's visit will offer "audiences one of the first opportunities to engage with this major work of historical fiction."

The release calls Shapiro- "The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon," "one of the year- most anticipated nonfiction books," as it "delivers a fresh and revelatory account of Earhart- rise to fame, shifting the focus from the mystery of her disappearance to the extraordinary life she led and the pivotal partnership that shaped her legend."

Pregont, in the release, says the festival committee, and the community, is "beyond thrilled" to have Shapiro visit Atchison, Earhart's birthplace home, so soon after the book's release, adding that Shapiro's visit "is a rare opportunity to hear fresh insights into Amelia- extraordinary life—right in her hometown and just in time for her birthday!”

The festival is held in July of each year in honor of Earhart's July 24, 1897 birthday.

As for Shapiro's book, the release says that "rather than revisiting the over-analyzed mystery of Earhart- final flight, Shapiro- book delivers an urgent and cinematic narrative of her career, exploring how her collaboration with media titan George Putnam launched her into the stratosphere," adding that "for the first time, newly uncovered sources—including lost tapes, hidden archives, and never-before-seen correspondence—shed light on the untold forces behind Earhart- meteoric rise."

Atchison's Amelia Earhart Festival, including Shapiro's Friday, July 18 appearance at the Hangar Museum, will also include that evening's ticketed Friday Night Music at the Riverfront, featuring headliner Neal McCoy, followed the next day, Saturday, July 19, by an extensive Earhart-focused itinerary of family-friendly activities, including that night's Concert in the Sky fireworks conclusion to the festival, held at the city's riverfront.