Customer Reviews

Flygirl

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have so many good things to say about this book, I don't know where to start... First, I loved the heroine, Ida Mae. Ida is a small town farm girl whose father introduced her to crop dusting at an early age. Ida loves to fly and when America enters World War 2, she gets tired of collecting silk stockings and cleaning houses and decides to join the WASP. Despite her amazing flying abilities, the WASP will turn her away simply because she is half black. Ida's desire to fly and aide her brother overseas in the only way she knows how overcomes her fears and she passes herself off as white so that she may do so. Her mother gets upset, her best friend gets upset, but Ida doesn't let them stop her and off she goes Sweetwater, Texas to fly.

On top of getting a firm feel for life at Avenger Field during world war 2 and the flight training and procedures, readers also get a look at what it is like to be black in the 1940s. Ida is always having to worry about her hair curling too much or somebody figuring out her secret because back then, her secret could get her killed. On top of the racial tension is the fact that she is a woman to boot. I doubt anybody had it harder back then. Women in general had it rough, but being a black woman... most of us would not have had Ida's courage.

Also in the story is how Ida deals with conflicting emotions regarding her family in New Orleans (she feels she is denying her own heritage and family, especially when her mom comes to visit and has to act like her maid) and her family in Sweetwater. How would her newfound white friends act if they knew the truth? My only complaint about this novel is we never found that out.

There is also a situation with the loss of a friend. Ida has to deal with her grief as she watches a friend die and her conflicting emotions about the situation as she realizes it could happen to her.

I absolutely loved the courageous flight Ida takes with Lily in a B-29. Great way to end this novel. Readers see how the WASP was literally used and discarded. I feel for all the women that were involved. Yet, this does not stop Ida Mae. Despite the fact that the Army betrays her and her female comrades in the end, Ida Mae still wants to fly, not as a white woman, nor a black woman, but as Ida Mae.

Ms. Smith, I would like to see a sequel to this book. I would like to see Ida Mae go work for Walt and come clean about her heritage. I'd like to see her overcome the 1950s and keep on flying despite all odds. We need more books with strong female heroines, white, black, latina.... Thumbs up, Ms. Smith.

"'Yes, indeed.' Audrey salutes me this time. 'Isn't it funny, ladies, how there's always a man at the bottom of everything we do?'"

After reading FLYGIRL, I still have not the slightest desire to learn to fly an airplane. There are just too many problems that can pop up with such complex mechanical things. When something unexpected occurs with my Toyota pickup, I simply pull over and pull out the cell phone and the AAA card. One doesn't have the same luxury with an airplane, as we see all too vividly in FLYGIRL, Sherri L. Smith's high-flying tale of a young, light-skinned, southern woman of color who "passes" for white during World War II so that she can compete for a position flying in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program. Ida Mae Jones and her fellow women pilots go through months of rigorous training so that they can assume responsibility for military flight tasks on the homefront. The WASP pilots thereby free up the Army's male pilots so that the men can then head into combat overseas in the European and South Pacific theaters.

Ida Mae grew up in her father's crop duster -- after her father blazed his own trail by heading north to Chicago in order to get pilot's training and a license -- and she lives to fly. But now her father is dead in a tractor accident, there is gasoline rationing because of The War, and her big brother, Thomas, has enlisted as a medic. Free as a bird in the air, this young woman is one smart, careful, and damned-near fearless flygirl. Ida Mae's difficulties are, instead, encountered when she is back on the ground:

"Pretending to be white is like holding your stomach in at the lake when the boys walk by. You know they're looking, but you don't want to be seen the way you really are, tummy all soft and babyish, with a too-small chest and behind. So you stand up tall, suck it in, tilt it forward, and try to do the best you can."

I love how Ida Mae offers this comparison with which we can all relate. How many times do we feel the need to pretend we are someone we aren't for the sake of feeling better (or less bad) about ourselves? As we know, such a survival strategy might help in the short run, but what are the long-term psychological effects of being forced to deny or hide our identities because of discrimination? We can only imagine the psychic costs to Ida Mae and countless real life Americans who have had to either hide a piece of themselves or else forego life-changing opportunities. It is for this reason that we evolved for the better, from the "melting pot" philosophy of assimilation that was widely taught during my childhood to the "salad bowl" philosophy of multiculturalism that has been the norm during my children's formative years. It is for this reason that for so many of us of my generation the REAL American Dream is the one that we heard articulated from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial the week before I began third grade:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Sherri L. Smith's epilogue to FLYGIRL leaves open a door -- just about the size of an airplane hanger -- for the possibility of a sequel. I, for one, have not begun to get my fill of Ida Mae Jones who, despite being a fictional character (I have to keep reminding myself that, no, she didn't get to vote for Obama last year.), leaves so many important personal issues unresolved when -- with the conclusion of the Second World War -- her story ends all too soon.

What will happen after the story's over between Ida Mae and her mother and between Ida Mae and Jolene (her best friend from back home) when she returns to her family's strawberry farm in Slidell, outside New Orleans? The repercussions of Ida Mae's deciding to pass for white and join the military have shredded her relationships with the two women with whom she has always been closest in life. Given her lofty achievements in the WASP program, can Ida Mae possibly cope with reverting her identity back to that of a young southern woman of color -- with all of the humiliating subservience and dangerous hatred that entails in 1940s Louisiana? Or must she, instead, either totally sever herself from her roots or else try to build an ever-more-complicated web of deceit in order to both maintain relationships with her friends and family while continuing to slip through doors that were otherwise still padlocked, dead bolted, and barricaded against most women -- of any color -- far into my own lifetime?

Fortunately, so much progress has been made since World War II -- both for women and for people of color.

And yet, as of 2009, we still have so far to go. When we look at the numbers, things are still totally unequal at the top: women now hold 17 of 100 U.S. Senate seats, 74 of 435 U.S. House seats, 1 of 9 U.S. Supreme Court seats, and occupy 8 of 50 Governor mansions. But Ida Mae Jones, gutsy, smart, brave, sassy, and determined, is just the kind of young woman to show us how to get it done right.

FLYGIRL is, quite simply, remarkable. It succeeds on many levels: as history of a little known aspect of World War II, as insight into being a patriotic black woman who yearns for the white male world of flying, and best of all, as pure, engrossing story.

Sherri L. Smith has clearly done her research in depicting the WASP experience, and she brings Ida Mae and her friends to vivid life. The world Ida Mae inhabits at the beginning of WWII is very limiting for too many people. By the end of the story, it's clear the world has changed. Ida Mae is not going to go back to cleaning houses, and I like to think of her creating a path that will let her fly not as a "colored" girl passing for white, but as simply Ida Mae Jones, pilot.

I noticed that an earlier review by a flying buff criticized the story for not showing pre-flight checks, but the gentleman must not have read carefully. The flight checks are there, and given exactly as much weight as they deserve by showing that the girl pilots know what they're doing.

I look forward to reading more of Sherri L. Smith's book

There is some spoiler in this review. Enter at your own risk.


Overall, this is a well written book about an introspective woman taking charge of her life. I liked it a lot. The author made a promise to the reader though and that was to deal with the issue of Ida Mae hiding her race. She worries over it constantly in the book and her family warns her of the dangers. In the hardware store she is seen through by a black man and warned she could be killed if she's found out. But there is never any real danger of her being found out. She completely hoodwinks everyone from the army to her friends. There was never that moment when someone she cared about found out her secret. I was waiting for it, particularly after Lily got pregnant. It never came. So the book is really about the worry of discovery rather than the danger of discovery. It left me disappointed. I wish the author had fulfilled that promise.

The one area I'm actually glad her race wasn't revealed however was with Walt. Leaving that question open at the end and having the reader decide what she would do is a good ending.

Ida Mae is growing up in 1940's Louisiana. She's a very light-skinned black girl whose father has modeled for her how to push the envelope and dare to be different. He was a pilot and he shared his love of flying with his daughter, something very unusual for Blacks or for women in the 1940s. Despite Ida Mae's desire to soar, she still has to walk each day in the segregated south where her race and her gender are used to keep her in her place, even when war breaks out and all citizens are called upon to sacrifice for the good of the country. Ida Mae decides the call is her opportunity to fly. In deciding to answer the call, she decides to pass for white.

I think generations who didn't live during this time period can be so unaware of all the intricacies involved in existing in a segregated, racist society. You had to always remember how to behave, how to react, where to go, what to say and how to say it. But Ida Mae made the choice to live the life of a white person so she could be a WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilot). Although this is a fictitious story, this is something that some black people of that era chose to do in order to have a better job, better life or give up playing the game of race. My dad did it. This was not something that was easy for him to talk about and I didn't really realize that he passed during WWII until he had died. I can't be mad at him for getting over like that! I wish I could have asked him about the difficulties involved in doing this, discussed more about his war experience or just say `It was OK, dad'. Other Blacks could tell Ida Mae was black, but they couldn't tell my dad was unless he told them.

I think Smith did a wonderful job of presenting the realities of this era without passing judgement on it. It was what it was and thank God it's done and over. I especially remember the heart wrenching scene between Ida Mae and her mother.

Mama is sitting there on the little block of concrete that serves as a bench. She stands up when sh sees me, and we stand there, looking at each other like each of us has never seen another human being before.
"Mama," I whisper.

Something, whatever it is that's been building inside me all day, breaks in a great wave. I throw my arms around her, but she stops me. Her eyes dart over my shoulder and I understand. The guard is watching us. I force myself to laught and pat her on the back.
"Mama Stella, how are you?"

"Fine, fine, Miss Ida May," Mama says in a voice so meek, so . . . Southern, it makes me sick to hear it.

There are so many who have gone before us who have fought good fights, some big, some little. Some for selfish reasons, some for the good of mankind. We can't know the fears they felt, the pain in deciding to turn their back on their loved ones (even if temporary) or the strong desire to accomplish something that drove them to cross such a dangerous line. Smith's book gives us a glimpse into this bravery.

It's unusual for a YA novel to be about an adult woman -- and although Ida Mae is young, she is definitely an independent, grown person. FLYGIRL still works as a young adult novel, however, because the story is about first setting out into the world and trying to balance between the girl you have been and the woman you want to be. The dilemmas Ida Mae goes through while passing for white are multidimensional, and I liked that Sherri Smith did not present the readers with a pat answer by declaring that Ida Mae was "wrong" or "right" in her decision. The '40s era is so well-portrayed that I have found myself humming big-band music ever since I started reading. And the friendships Ida Mae builds with characters like Patsy, Lily and Walt -- as well as her friendship with Jolene at home -- all feel very true. And I was fascinated by the WASP program and astonished that we haven't heard more about these courageous women. My only complaint was that I wanted MORE of this book, but I am very happy with FLYGIRL as it stands.

In school, I was always the girl that's eyes glazed over during history class. To me it was all a bunch of dates, facts, and mini-bio of people. Nothing for to grasp onto or become interested in. So when I heard about Flygirl I was afraid (like with all things historical) the same thing would happen. And to my great surprise and relief I loved it! Flygirl is a very engaging book that pieces together parts of an era and presents it in a narrative form. I seriously bet if Flygirl had been paired with a chapter on WWII in my high school history class I would have been interested a hundred more times over.

On to the story. Along with my hesitation about a historical book I've never really cared one way or another about flying. But this book made me care. Care about all the female pilots proving they are great at what they do, achieving their dreams, and just having that chance to fly. It was very empowering to read!

I loved the character of Ida Mae and her struggles to stay true to herself and her love of flying but also her family. I could totally sympathize with her, in a time period when the rights of African Americans and Women were not what they are today and should have been, it's hard to play by the rules when you know they are wrong. I thought Ida Mae handled her dilemma very well. The secondary characters were also great. Especially her close friends at training, Patsy and Lily. What a great bond they formed! I also appreciated how the ending was handled. It's one women's story and this is just the beginning of her journey.

Flygirl was a very engaging book that opened me up to a whole era that I had never really thought about at any great length. There is joy, sorrow, and real life. It was wonderful!

I received an ARC of Flygirl ages ago and let it sit idly on my bookshelf. I procrastinated reading it thinking it was going to be a trite, stereotypically emotional book pounding its message into my head at the expense of good writing and good storytelling. Once I finally picked up the book and started reading, I was dismayed that I'd waited so long to read this book.

In some ways, the story and plot were what I expected to find. A black girl living in the south in mid-1900s...trying to find her own identity while having it constantly defined by those around her (by both whites and blacks). As the title and synopsis indicate, she finds her strongest sense of identity defined by her absolute passion for flying...and especially for the freedom and exhilaration it brings to her.

The synopsis explains that this story is about Ida Mae Jones and what happens when she decides to join the WASP (Women's Airforce Service Pilots). However, the first third of the book is about her life in Slidell, Louisiana. We meet her friends, her family and see a bit of her interactions around town. We also learn about Ida Mae's passion to be a pilot. The writing is smooth and believable and really draws you into what it might have been like to be a young black girl in Louisiana in 1941.

Before long, we are given historical notes about America entering the war and about the sacrifices that people had to make. Finally, we learn about the WASP program and see Ida Mae grapple with the difficult decision of what she should do. As you know from the synopsis, she decides to try out for WASP and she ends up being accepted into the program. But in order to do so, she finds herself needing to "pass" as a white woman. She never explicitly says to anyone that she is white...but she doesn't have to. By dressing herself more "white" and by moving into white circles, she is essentially silently telling people she is no longer "black."

I loved that this book was written in first person. By having it in first person it allowed us to get very close to Ida Mae and to feel her anxieties, her regrets, her successes and her fears. I was very worried for her safety many times through her training and missions...not just because of the military aspect, but because her "passing" would have gotten her into a lot of trouble.

I found this book not only very entertaining but very interesting and educational. It was clear that the author did a lot of research on the era, on the war, on the WASP program and on most everything she shared with us in this novel. I really felt like I was reading about true moments from 1940s America.

My only real problem with the book was how it ended...not that it ended bad, but the position in which it ended. The end of the book leaves Ida Mae with a difficult decision about what to do with her future. And while I felt the author handled the ending very well and had Ida Mae make the decision that best fit her character and her life, I really wanted to know what happened next...in the following months, years, etc. Granted, that sort of speculation would be a hard ending to make and would result in a lot of problems for a writer and a reader. So it's probably best that we're left not knowing what happened next and we're thus left having to assume what happened based on what's presented in our novel and our own knowledge of the history of the times.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick but very engaging read. The history, descriptions, characters, and actions were all vivid, entertaining and thought provoking. While not an action packed war novel, you did feel the anxiety of being in America during World War II as well as the stress and worry of Ida Mae as she struggled to find part of her identity while hiding another part. Even though this is a "young adult" novel due to its young characters and simpler writing/plot style, I found this to be a great read and could recommend it to teens or adults without problem. If you have any interest at all in WWII, black-white relations in the mid-1900s or aviation/air-force and women's place in it, then you'll enjoy this book. And if you don't have much/any interest in those things, I dare say this book may spark some interest for you. It's well written and very accessible even if you know nothing about those topics...and it's interesting enough that you may just find yourself wanting to know more.

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flying. Her father taught her how to fly and soon, she loves it. When her father dies, she keeps on dreaming. When the war hits, her brother enlists leaving her to stay home. She's going stir crazy staying home saving and rationing for the war. Ida Mae wants to make a difference. She thinks it could be her time when she hears about the WASP program (Women's Airforce Service Pilots). She doctors up her father's license to pretend it's hers and dresses in her best clothes. Ida Mae is terrified...because she's black. She knows that although it's a women's program, she's likely to be turned away. Her skin tone is light enough for her to pass as white, so she bites the bullet. Once she arrives at the training camp in Sweetwater Texas, she's scared to death of flunking out of the program, her secret of her skin tone will come out, or that she'll lose her new sense of freedom. Ida Mae relishes in the program. She forms new friendships while she serves her country, but deep down there's still tension in who she is and who she wants to become. Can she overcome all the odds to fly as a WASP?

I really loved this book. It's a topic that fascinated me when I learned about it during a college class: Introduction to Women's Studies. At the time, I wondered why this topic wasn't covered more in the high school class rooms/text books. It's such an inspiring program. This book discusses the value of friendship, bonding in times of stress, the strength of friendship, racial and gender issues, and the deep ties of family. It was a quick engaging wonderful read.

this book told an AMAZING story. you felt like you were stepping with Ida Mae through all of her troubles. my friend recommened it to me and i would highly recommend it to anyone else. this book is in my opinion a good middle school age level. sherri's style clearly shows the hardships that woman and colored people faced. i read this right after i finished "the help" and now i truley understand how difficult this time was.