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During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Smith (Lucy the Giant) brings a gripping perspective to bear upon a lesser-known piece of America's past: during WWII, the government recruited women pilots to fly non-combat missions, e.g., ferrying planes. Driven by a desire to fly and wanting to help her enlisted brother, Ida Mae decides to pass as white so she can join the program. The author has an expert grasp on her subject, and readers will learn plenty about the Women Airforce Service Pilots, from their impractical uniforms to the dangerous missions they flew without reward. Ida Mae's unique point of view gives her special insight into the often poor treatment of women: when a pilot friend gets frustrated by a stunt they are asked to perform, Ida realizes, "Lily's just finding out what I've been living with my whole life. She's never known what it was like to be hobbled by somebody else's rules." Key scenes demonstrate how much Ida has sacrificed by passing, as when her much darker mother visits her on Christmas and, à la Imitation of Life, poses as the family housekeeper. Although this book feels constructed to educate, readers will find the lesson well crafted. Ages 12-up. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Gr 6-10
Readers first meet 18-year-old Ida Mae Jones, a Louisiana girl who longs to be a pilot, in December 1941, on the eve of America's entrance into World War II. She is pretty and smart, but she has two huge strikes against her. She is black in an America where racism holds sway, and a competent pilot in an America in which she is denied her license because she is a woman. Smith explores these two significant topics and does a wonderful job of melding the two themes in one novel. Ida Mae is a likable character who is torn by the need to pass for white and fake a license in order to fulfill her dream. Readers learn a great deal about what it must have been like to be African American in the South during this period, as well as about the Women Airforce Service Pilots, WASP, a civilian group that performed jobs that freed male pilots for other things. The women's close friendships and the danger, excitement, and tragedy of their experience create a thrilling, but little-known story that begs to be told. The book is at once informative and entertaining. In the end, readers are left to wonder what Ida Mae Jones will do with the rest of her life.-Carol Jones Collins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ
I love the author for this book. She captivates me with her amazing writing. This book was unforgetable and extremely amazing ! I will always remember it for its edgyness, amzingness, and happiness ! Smith drives me nutts while she constantly continues to prove to me how amazing of a writer she is. I'm thinking, if she hasn't already written another book, she should do so NOW ! Flygirl has no inappropriate parts and not too much cussing. This book is definitly great. Great Story, Great Author
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.World War II is raging across the globe and Ida Mae Jones is doing everything she can on the homefront to support the war effort. With her brother, Thomas, off fighting in the Pacific, Ida Mae wants nothing more than to see the boys come home safely. <BR/><BR/>Donating bacon grease and nylon stockings is not enough. Ida Mae cannot just sit at home when she knows that so many are dying overseas. When she sees an article in the newspaper announcing a new army initiative - WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) - she knows that she has found her calling. Like the Russians, Uncle Sam is finally letting women do more. <BR/><BR/>Flying has always been a passion for Ida Mae, since the first time her daddy took her up in his "Jenny," a Curtiss JN-4. She might not have a license, due to a sexist flight instructor, but Ida Mae is an experienced pilot. In fact, she feels more at home in the sky than on the ground. Her father flew to dust crops, and now Ida Mae wants to fly in the army. <BR/><BR/>There is just one problem. WASP is a program for white women, and Ida Mae is colored. <BR/><BR/>With her light skin and brown hair, she just might be able to pass for a white woman. To pursue her dream of becoming a WASP, Ida Mae must deny her identity and face unimaginable dangers. Graduating from the rigorous training in Sweetwater, Texas, to become a full-fledged WASP will be no easy task. <BR/><BR/>Can one colored girl prove to herself and the world that the sky really is the limit? <BR/><BR/>Sherri L. Smith smoothly incorporates extensive historical research to paint a bold and extraordinary portrait of the courageous women of the WASP. Like her idols, Jackie Cochran and Nancy Love, Ida Mae is a plucky, adventurous heroine, defying race and gender barriers to surpass even her own expectations. Smith is honest in portraying the often rough and unfair treatment that women of WASP endured, the unappreciated sacrifices that these women made all in the name of a country that did not see them as equals to men. <BR/><BR/>Ida Mae herself says it best - "We don't get any medals for the things we do. We don't get a parade when we go home." Even without the fanfare and celebrations that they deserved, the WASP played an essential role in winning World War II. <BR/><BR/>And for Ida Mae? "It's all the reward we need."
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 19, 2012
Ida mae is very brave and strong I feel bad for her because of her dad.it is very sad and sad ehen her big brother had to leave to go to the army .she was trying to get her friend to do somthing to help snd the war is also like 9.1.1.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In the winter of 1941, Ida Mae Jones has graduated from high school in Slidell, Louisiana and lives on a strawberry farm with her widowed mother, her grandfather, older brother Tom and younger brother Abel. Tom is a student at a Negro college studying medicine and Ida Mae works as a maid for a well-to-do white family in nearby New Orleans with her best friend, Jolene. Before his death in a freakish accident, Ida¿s father had bought a plane for crop dusting and taught her how to fly. It is her life¿s passion. Sadly no respectable flight school will give her a pilot¿s license because of her gender. As December rolls around, she is resigned to the fact that she may never realize her dream of becoming a professional aviator. When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and the United States enters the world war already raging in Europe, everything changes for this spirited young woman.<BR/><BR/>Two years later, Thomas is in the army serving in the South Pacific and Ida is going stir crazy at home wanting to get involved. When she learns that the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) program is recruiting women to help fly planes across the country, her dream is rekindled. This unique organization was a merger of WFTD (Women¿s Flying Training Detachment) and the WAFS (Women¿s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) whereby the US Army Air Force employed civilian female pilots to fly military aircrafts on missions that ranged from ferrying planes from factories to military bases and towing aerial targets. They made it possible to free up thousands of male pilots for combat roles overseas. Sadly, in 1943 they were also discriminatory against blacks and qualified Negro women were refused entry into the corp. <BR/><BR/>Which is where Sherri Smith¿s story takes-off much like her high flying heroine. Ida Mae is a light skinned Negro who can easily pass for white. She is also a person of high moral character and the realization that she must lie to achieve her goal of joining the WASP is a truly bitter pill. Against her family¿s wishes, Ida applies for flight school and is accepted, her subterfuge successful. Soon she finds herself stationed at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, with hundreds of other would-be pilots. There she meets two other spirited girls in Patsy ¿Cakewalk¿ Kake, a veteran wing-walker and barnstormer and Lily Lowenstein, a wealthy socialite from New York. They become close friends and in the weeks and months ahead, support each other through the grueling training.<BR/><BR/>Smith¿s research is flawless and she vividly recreates the daily life of a WASP. For the most part, these brave young women were given very little credit by their male counterparts, when all too often they performed to higher standards then the men. Time and time again, WASP pilots were put to the test and their skills and courage always won out. Thus Smith weaves both a marvelous historical narrative that is one hundred percent factual with a warm and endearing fiction. It is a seamless tale that is both sad and inspiring. FLYGIRL is one of those rare books you wish would never end and Ida Mae Jones is a character you will never forget.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 11, 2013
Awesome book.
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Posted June 9, 2013
A gret book
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Posted March 20, 2013
I loved this book, it was such a beautiful story i want to read it over and over again !!!
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Posted December 25, 2012
This is a very nice book. It really explains about Ida's life and her challanges when she lost her father.
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Posted November 19, 2012
IT WAS AWESOME!!!
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Posted June 14, 2012
Is there going to be a second book?????? I read this a long time ago and i though it deserved a sequal? I looked it up and can up with no info so i am now looking to u guys. HELP!
Anonymous
Posted April 2, 2012
This book is an inspation to me i am light skinded and i learned that it dosent matter how you look you are beautiful
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Posted March 6, 2012
I enjoyed reading this and recomend it to kids who can read a book with a slighty boring beggining
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Posted February 26, 2012
Great book!!! Very sad and inspiring a must read:):):)
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Posted January 21, 2012
Fantabulous book u should read it
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Posted April 5, 2012
Amazing inspiring undescribably fantastic. A rollercoaster of terrific emotions. :D
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Posted December 11, 2011
Awesome book
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Posted September 4, 2011
Amazing! I totally loved this book! It is clean and is especially great for girls who dream of being a pilot. Luved it!
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Posted April 17, 2011
it gets better every time i read it! i wish that my parents would let me buy it........
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Posted January 8, 2011
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Posted February 10, 2011
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Overview
During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.