American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky

(Hardback)

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From the bestselling author of Code Name Verity and the acclaimed author of Flygirl comes the thrilling and inspiring untold true story of the desegregation of the skies. In the years between WWI and WWII, aviation fever was everywhere, including in Black America. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where previous Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans with a dream of taking to the skies- Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side. As the U.S. hurtled toward WWII, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together, proving in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated that integration was possible. Complete with black-and-white photographs throughout, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.

Reviews

Praise for American Wings:

This beautiful and brilliant history of not only what it means to be Black and dream of flying but to, against every odd, do so, completely blew me away.Kudos to Smith and Wein for believing in the importance of history and passing it on. Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner for Brown Girl Dreaming

A barnstorming, barrel-rolling, loop-the-loop history of the Black American pilots who defied racism and gravity in equal measure. American Wings soars!Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee

A fascinating, well-researched history of the birth of Black aviation in the twentieth century. Smith and Wein have perfectly captured the challenging and thrilling journeys of these inspiring aviators from Chicago. I loved every page. Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Smith and Wein pack this story with daring aerial adventures and pilots whose love of flying and refusal to be denied practically soar off the page! Steve Sheinkin, author of the Newbery Honor Book and National Book Award Finalist Bomb

Hidden within a romp about daring-do aviators is the story of America: the barriers it created for some of its citizens, the people who worked to tear them down, and how the country was propelled toward equal rights for all. Monica Hesse, bestselling author of Girl in the Blue Coat

Thanks to Smith and Weins eye-opening, page-turning, often disquieting, but always compelling narrative, we can now return these remarkable, long unsung African American aviation pioneers to our collective American memory where theyve always belonged. Candace Fleming, author of The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

Author Bio

Elizabeth Weinis a recreational pilot and the owner of about a thousand maps. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Code Name Verity,as well as the novels Rose Under Fire; Black Dove, White Raven; The Pearl Thief;and The Enigma Game; as well as the nonfiction book A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II. Visit her online at elizabethwein.com.

Sherri L. Smith is the author of several novels for young adults, including the critically acclaimed The Blossom and the Firefly, Flygirl, Orleans, and Pasadena, as well as the middle-grade novel The Toymakers Apprentice. Visit her online at sherrilsmith.com