“Jake and the Tiger Flight” is about a boy who does not really know what he wants to do with his life, just like the author when he was a boy.

George Weinstein said he felt directionless and unmotivated when he was growing up. Children have even more distractions now like the internet, cell phones and video games to keep them from discovering their dreams and working towards them.

The book is the first in a series of at least four motivational adventure stories about a boy who wants to fly vintage Tiger Flight planes.

“The first book, I really got in-depth with Jake and it’s about setting a goal and grabbing a dream,” said Weinstein. “We didn’t want to make it preachy or like a textbook, but Jake is directionless and discovering these planes and wanting to fly and it becomes his challenge.”

The books are meant for 8 to 14-year-olds with a 12-year-old protagonist. The author said Jake will not be able to obtain his pilot’s license until he is 16, so the books still have a long way to go.

The past president of the Atlanta Writer’s Club, Weinstein said he used to write fiction solely for himself. But the book about Jake has given him a new purpose and he said it is fun to write about himself in Jake, the way he wishes he had been as a child.

“One of the terms we use in the book is ‘Pilot in Command.’ And that comes from the pilots who fly the Tiger Flight planes — if they are Pilot in Command then that means they are responsible for everyone in the air and on the ground,” he said. “So in the book we talk about being Pilot in Command of your own life and kids being responsible for their own decisions.”

The Tiger Flight Foundation teaches children about responsibility through their connection to the WWII era planes at its headquarters in Rome, Ga. Proceeds from the book will benefit the foundation.

“Jake and the Tiger Flight” is available at Barnes & Noble bookstores, online at Amazon.com and on the book’s Web site.

Free flights with a pilot in a Tiger Flight plane for children ages 8 to 17 will be offered Saturday at the Richard B. Russell Airport, 304 Russell Field Road in Rome.