The story of trailblazing Black woman pilot Bessie Coleman is told in simple verses.

Although the story presented of Bessie tells readers little about her background - even the Author’s Note is sketchy - Bessie’s biography is quite interesting. The National Women’s History Museum gives a much better idea of who Bessie was.

“Born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892, Bessie Coleman had twelve brothers and sisters. Her mother, Susan Coleman, was an African American maid, and her father George Coleman was a sharecroppper of mixed Native American and African American descent.”

Bessie grew up helping her mother pick cotton and wash laundry to earn extra money. She saved enough money to attend the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma where her father had moved to try and escape discrimination. But Bessie dropped out of college after only one semester because she could not afford to attend.

At age 23, she went to live with her brothers in Chicago, and worked multiple jobs. Her brothers, who served abroad in World War I, told her French women were allowed to fly airplanes. Bessie decided to move to France so she could learn to fly. There she passed her test for a license on the very first try.

Back in the US, she began doing stunts in her plane to show her skills and earn money. The author writes:

“She would fight racism
At her air shows, too.
Would tell the officials
To integrate the venue.

‘I won’t do the show
‘If you segregate!
Black folks and white
Must come in the same gate!’”

The National Women’s History Museum tells us:

“In 1922, she performed the first public flight by an African American woman. She was famous for doing ‘loop-the-loops’ and making the shape of an ‘8’ in an airplane. People were fascinated by her performances and she became more popular both in the United States and in Europe. She toured the country giving flight lessons, performing in flight shows, and she encouraged African Americans and women to learn how to fly.”

The author writes that Bessie traveled the country speaking, “inspiring all races” with the stories she told. The author concludes:

“Above the land. Above the sea.
Where they all said she shouldn’t be.
Bessie said, ‘Watch!’ She said, ‘You’ll see!’
And followed her dream, flying free.”

Backmatter includes a list of “Trailblazing Women in Flight,” actual photos of Bessie Coleman and her plane, an Author’s Note, and an Artist’s Note.

We learn absolutely nothing about Bessie’s death in the book, but what happened to her is worth noting:

“On April 30, 1926, Bessie Coleman took a test flight with a mechanic named William Wills. Wills was piloting the plane, as Coleman sat in the passenger seat. At about 3,000 feet in the air, a loose wrench got stuck in the engine of the aircraft. Wills was no longer able to control the steering wheel and the plane flipped over. Unfortunately, Coleman was not wearing a seatbelt. Airplanes at the time did not have a roof or any protection. Coleman immediately fell out of the open plane and died. Wills crashed the aircraft a few feet away from Coleman’s body and also died. Her death was heartbreaking for thousands of people. Famous activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett performed the funeral service to honor Coleman in Chicago. In 1931, the Challenger Pilots’ Association of Chicago started a tradition of flying over Coleman’s grave every year. By 1977, African American women pilots formed the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club. In 1995, the “Bessie Coleman Stamp” was made to remember all of her accomplishments.”

R. Gregory Christie, who has won multiple awards for his illustrations, wrote that his illustrations were inspired by photographs from Bessie’s era, in addition to general research pertaining to the time and place where Bessie lived. His art work is the best part of this otherwise insipid book. ( )

Parsons wrote a powerful book about the first black female to ever fly. In this book, we learn all about Bessie Coleman's dreams and what it took for her to get there. There is lots of repetition and poetic conversations that occur that capture the reader's interest. There are also real pictures of the real Bessie Coleman that are super cool to see. The scientific practices were not as obvious in this book but I think that it could be used in a powerful way to show black females in roles that are historical. The graphics in this book are unique as well as the coloring of the words on each page, each word different depending on the emphasis the author is placing upon it. ( )