Flygirl

• Genre: Fiction; young adult historical
• Originally Published: 2009
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile HL680L; grades 7-10
• Structure/Length: 26 chapters plus epilogue; approx. 304 pages; approx. 8 hours, 36 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Ida Mae Jones, whose father taught her to fly before he died, dreams of getting her pilot’s license. After the United States joins World War II and her brother leaves to fight in the Pacific, Ida Mae decides to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)—but to do so she must “pass” as white and hide her identity from her new friends in the training program.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racial segregation; hiding one’s racial identity

Sherri L. Smith, Author

• Bio: Born in Chicago, Illinois; holds an MFA in film and broadcast journalism, an MS in business, and an MA in humanities; has worked in film and animation, including three years at Disney TV Animation; writes comics in series including James Cameron’s Avatar; teaches in the Children’s Writing Program at Hamline University; lives in Los Angeles
• Other Works: Orleans (2013); Pasadena (2016); The Toymaker’s Apprentice (2015); Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? (2018); The Blossom and the Firefly (2020)
• Awards: Washington Post Best Kids’ Books of the Year (2009); ALA Best Books for Young People (2010); Amelia Bloomer Project Selection (2010)