Friday, December 4, 2009

Historical Fiction Friday: Flygirl


This book caught my eye a while ago and I have been dying to read it. I typically stay away from World War II fiction. It's really not my thing. But this sounds like a unique and interesting concept.

Summary:
Ida Mae wants only to fly, an improbable proposition for a black girl in 1940s small-town Louisiana. But the outbreak of war and Ida Mae's own nerve connive to get her into the air: "Light skin and good hair could put me in a military plane." Counterfeiting a pilot's license and passing herself off as white, Ida Mae joins the Women's Airforce Service Pilots program, an auxiliary of the Air Force designed to free up male pilots for combat duty. Although forthright about the racism Ida Mae faces and the ethical complexities of pretending to be something one is not, this novel is at heart an old-fashioned career story, where a gal pursues the job-and man-of her dreams. It's good, rousing period fiction with a determined heroine and plucky supporting cast of sister WASPs.

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