The Doolittle Raiders, who flew with her grandfather on the 1942 mission to bomb Tokyo, were part of her extended family and she would sometimes attend their yearly reunions.

[5] She started her first book in response to the film, Pearl Harbor, to correct inaccuracies about her grandfather's character and actions during World War II.

[9] Actor Alec Baldwin initially portrayed Doolittle as an ill-tempered man prone to using profanity, but the depiction was corrected after Hoppes presented the family's objections.

[12] Calculated Risk received positive reviews from a number of trade publications including Library Journal,[13] Publishers Weekly,[14] and Booklist.

A review by Publishers Weekly found a story about Japanese-American soldier, Dick Hamada, who worked for the Office of Strategic Services intelligence agency "particularly fascinating.

[29] On January 14, 2010, Hoppes received the "Content of their Character" award at the Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon celebration held in Los Angeles, California.