You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

by Carole Boston Weatherford, Jeffery Boston Weatherford (Illustrator)

Overview

In this “masterful, inspiring evocation of an era” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford “wields the power of poetry to tell [the] gripping historical story” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) of the Tuskegee Airmen.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481449380
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Carole Boston Weatherford has written many award-winning books for children, including Kin, illustrated by her son Jeffery and a Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient; Box, which won a Newbery Honor; Unspeakable, which won the Coretta Scott King Award, a Caldecott Honor, and was a finalist for the National Book Award; Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award; ALA Notable Children’s Book You Can Fly; and Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo Square; Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Carole lives in North Carolina. Visit her at CBWeatherford.com.

Jeffery Boston Weatherford is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and a performance poet. He has lectured, performed, and led art and writing workshops in the US, the Middle East, and West Africa. Jeffery was a Romare Bearden Scholar at Howard University, where he earned an MFA in painting and studied under members of the Black Arts Movement collective AfriCobra. A North Carolina native and resident, Jeffery has exhibited his art in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Visit him at CBWeatherford.com.

Read an Excerpt

You Can Fly
No matter that there are only 130

licensed black pilots in the whole nation.

Your goal of being a pilot cannot be grounded

by top brass claiming blacks are not fit to fly.

Your vision of planes cannot be

blocked by clouds of doubt.

The engine of your ambition will not brake

for walls of injustice—no matter how high.

The sky’s no limit if you’ve flown

on your own power in countless dreams;

not if you’ve raised homing pigeons

on Harlem rooftops;

or watched crop dusters

buzzing over rows of cotton;

not if you’ve gazed at stars

and known God meant for you to soar.

Table of Contents

Head to the Sky 1

The Civilian Pilot Training Program 2

Train Ride to the Clouds 4

A Shot 5

The First Cadets 7

Officers 9

The Odds 10

Keep 'Em Flying: Tuskegee Army Airfield Nurses 12

Ground School 14

Solo, At Last 16

Sugar, Sugar 18

The Other War 19

Downtime 20

Training Planes 22

Pearl Harbor 24

Dorie Miller Earns the Navy Cross 26

Private Joe Louis 28

Fighting Boredom 31

Second Lieutenant 32

William Henry Hastie 34

The Double V Campaign: Pens Mighty as Swords 36

Anxious 39

Fight Song 41

Facing the Enemy 43

Operation Prove Them Wrong 44

Routines 46

Lena Home: More than a Pin-Up 49

Red Tail Angels 51

The Black Birdmen 53

Your Record 55

No Hero's Welcome 57

A Long Line 59

Epilogue 63

Author's Note 67

Time Line 69

Resources 77

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/07/2016
Weatherford (Voice of Freedom) again wields the power of poetry to tell a gripping historical story, reinforced by dramatically shaded scratchboard illustrations by her son, making a notable debut. Gentle yet stirring, Weatherford’s 40-plus free-verse poems create a composite portrait of the first African-American military pilots, trained at the Tuskegee Institute before fighting on the front lines in WWII, and the rampant racial prejudice that these military heroes battled throughout the war. Addressing the pilots collectively as “you,” the present-tense narrative has a palpable sense of immediacy, urgency, and encouragement: “Finally, your moment./ After eight hours of lessons,/ it’s your turn to fly solo,/ to conquer a new world./ You steer as if you and the plane are one./ You have never felt freer./ Never.” Weatherford also offers appreciative nods to the first black women allowed to serve in the Army Nurse Corps, as well as black and white civilians and officers who decried the hypocrisy inherent in a soldier risking his life to defend a country “that doesn’t respect his rights.” A timeline and other resources wrap up this absorbing book. Ages 9–12. (May)

Publishers Weekly

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.

Horn Book

"This volume offers a vivid, personal point of view. A welcome addition to traditional books on the Tuskegee Airmen."

April 1, 2015 - Booklist

"This volume offers a vivid, personal point of view. A welcome addition to traditional books on the Tuskegee Airmen."

April 1, 2015 - Booklist

02/01/2016
Gr 5 Up—This distinctive collection of verses lets readers journey with the African American men who dreamed of flying despite racist attitudes. Through 33 poems, readers will travel beside these determined men as they become pilots and fight not only the Nazis, but prejudice as well. For those who have never studied this time period, 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 such as "Operation Prove Them Wrong" and "No Hero's Welcome," which demonstrate that despite their proven skill and heroism, the aviators were still denied acceptance and respect. Scratchboard illustrations by the author's son bring the subject to life. VERDICT A unique and very readable addition to supplement black history and World War II collections.—Laura Fields Eason, Parker Bennett Curry Elementary School, Bowling Green, KY

School Library Journal

★ 2016-02-02
The story of the struggles and achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen is told in vivid informational poetry. Pre-World War II efforts aimed at improving the opportunities for African-Americans in the military faced strong opposition, but flight programs such as Tuskegee's had a strong advocate in Eleanor Roosevelt, and she convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to support them. The preparation was vigorous, under the direction of white officers who were also affected by the racism of the time: "For them, choosing Tuskegee / means never making general, / but making history instead." The poems explore all aspects of the time spent in training, including the restrictions of a small Southern town as well as outside news. After the U.S. entered the war, the pilots were eventually allowed to participate and served with great distinction. Carole Boston Weatherford does a masterful job of portraying the era and the prevailing attitude among African-Americans, who believed they could overcome racism with excellence. Her skill with language provides clear voices for the trainees, and cultural specifics provide additional texture and deepen understanding of the young men. Even African-American military nurses make an appearance. The epilogue places the Tuskegee Airmen in context with other, defeated legal racial barriers. This excellent treatment is enhanced with useful backmatter: author's note, timeline, and list of additional resources. Jeffery Boston Weatherford's scratchboard illustrations complement the text. A masterful, inspiring evocation of an era. (Informational poetry. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"This volume offers a vivid, personal point of view. A welcome addition to traditional books on the Tuskegee Airmen."

Booklist - April 1

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.

Horn Book - July/August 2016

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.

BCCB