Fly, Woman, Fly

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

I thoroughly enjoyed Flygirl. It was fast reading, and the author, Sherri L. Smith, does a good job of keeping the pace quick without sacrificing any of Ida Mae's emotion. At no point in the novel does the reader leave Ida Mae's head; as a result, we never lose her perspective. In other first person narratives, there are times when the text is strictly describing action without providing the narrator's feelings on what he/she is witnessing. Smith, however, gives us everything in the context of Ida Mae's feelings.

In truth, her feelings are what this book is all about. Only tangentially is Flygirl about WASP or World War II or even the opportunity for a woman of color to fly airplanes. This is a story of struggle, both internal and external, as well as the choices and sacrifices one must make in order to accomplish a goal. It is the story of every woman of color who felt she could only fight one war at a time, be it versus racism or versus sexism. Flygirl is the story of a battle with one's self.

The author also did an excellent job of briefly bringing up issues that would not have affected Ida Mae directly but were critical nonetheless. For example, there is a scene during which Ida Mae and Lily remark how young the soldiers had become. Overall, there is a very authentic feel to the novel. It is a mostly untold and, to the masses, unknown story of Twentieth Century American history.

I loved it.

The only hiccup comes in Chapters 20 and 21, when there is a little timeline mix-up. No big deal, just an editing mistake that takes nothing away from the story.

A-