You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen by Carole Weatherford
age 9-12
This history in verse celebrates the story of the Tuskegee Airmen: pioneering African-American pilots who triumphed in the skies and past the color barrier.
Hardcover. 96 Pages. Target Age 9 - 12
ISBN: 9781481449380
Review Quotes:
"This book sheds light on the Tuskegee Airmen through stories filled with authentic voices and hard truths. For those who already know of the Airmen's accomplishments, the book offers a more personal connection to the men and their ideas and feelings through poems . . . which demonstrate that despite their proven skill and heroism, the aviators were still denied acceptance and respect."-- "School Library Journal"
Review Quotes:
* "Weatherford's skill with language provides clear voices for the trainees, and cultural specifics provide additional texture and deepen understanding of the young men. A masterful, inspiring evocation of an era." -- "Kirkus Reviews, starred review"
Review Quotes:
* "Weatherford . . . wields the power of poetry to tell a gripping historical story, reinforced by dramatically shaded scratchboard illustrations by her son, making a notable debut."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Kirkus Reviews, starred review"
Review Quotes:
"The narrative voice draws readers into the action, addressing them directly and inviting them to imagine themselves into this ground-breaking role . . . this title is particularly well adapted to classroom use, where language arts and history students can share common air space."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "BCCB"
Review Quotes:
"Weatherford's informative, evocative poems follow the Airmen from the early vision . . . to the flyers' experiences at home and abroad, with poems about Joe Louis and Lena Horne reminding us that the Airmen were also fighting another war in this country--against prejudice."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Horn Book"
Review Quotes:
"This volume offers a vivid, personal point of view. A welcome addition to traditional books on the Tuskegee Airmen."--Booklist "April 1, 2015"
Publisher Marketing:
Award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford's innovative history in verse celebrates the story of the Tuskegee Airmen: pioneering African-American pilots who triumphed in the skies and past the color barrier.I WANT YOU! says the poster of Uncle Sam. But if you're a young black man in 1940, he doesn't want you in the cockpit of a war plane. Yet you are determined not to let that stop your dream of flying.So when you hear of a civilian pilot training program at Tuskegee Institute, you leap at the chance. Soon you are learning engineering and mechanics, how to communicate in code, how to read a map. At last the day you've longed for is here: you are flying!From training days in Alabama to combat on the front lines in Europe, this is the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the groundbreaking African-American pilots of World War II. In vibrant second-person poems, Carole Boston Weatherford teams up for the first time with her son, artist Jeffery Weatherford, in a powerful and inspiring book that allows readers to fly, too.
