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American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky Audiobook
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From the acclaimed author of Flygirl and the bestselling author of Code Name Verity comes the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.
In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?
American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon 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 World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful 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.
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"Thanks to Smith and Wein’s 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 they’ve always belonged."
— Candace Fleming, author of The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
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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 -
Accessible and buoyant . . . A fascinating, well-told American story full of compelling innovation.
— Kirkus Reviews
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About the Authors
Elizabeth Wein is the author of several books, including Code Name Verity, winner of the Edgar Award in the Young Adult category and a Printz Medal Honor Book; Rose Under Fire, winner of the Schneider Family Book Award; and Black Dove, White Raven, winner of the Children’s Africana Book Award.
Sherri L. Smith is the award–winning author of several novels for young adults, including the critically acclaimed Flygirl, Orleans, and The Toymaker’s Apprentice.