Book:Flygirl

Flygirl
Sherri L Smith, 2008

Ida Mae Jones was taught how to fly a plane by her father. Of course, in 1941 not too many people want to see a woman flying, let along one with coloured skin. But as World War Two progresses, Ida Mae discovers that they are looking for female pilots for the WASP. She's perfect for it, except for the fact that she'll have to pass as white to do so.

This was a really quiet book, which is funny considering how much action goes on within it. It was immensly powerful, with themes of identity and determination throughout. But there is also romance and passion and friendship and the rights of women and sacrifice. You really feel for the characters throughout the book, and you're left kind of devestated when it finishes because there's so much more you want to know. I absolutely adored this book, and would highly recommend it.

I would connect this book to other books about strong women including Almost Astronauts.


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Book: Mississippi Trial, 1955

Mississippi Trial, 1955
Chris Crowe, 2002

Hiram is a 16 year old boy who is constantly at odds with his father, who is in turn at odds with his own father, Hiram's grandfather. Hiram, who spent several years growing up with his grandparents in Mississippi, returns to spend part of the summer holidays. Without knowing it, he is returning to a world that is at the same time different and the same to how he remembers. And a world which is about to be embroiled in a horrific crime.

There's a really steamy feel to the book - which might be because where I live we're experiencing high humidity. But the warm, slightly damp feel that the writing provokes carries the book along - like under tha slow, never-changing pace of the town there is a real sense of menace.

This book connects beautifully to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, along with other books I mentioned there.

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Book: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Mildred D Taylor, 1976

This is a powerful book set in rural Mississipi in the 1930s. Cassie and her family may not have a lot and they might work hard, but at least they have their land. Their family farm cotton on the land, except that taxes and mortgage are beginning to bite and the cotton payments aren't as good as they used to be. So their father is forced to work away. This could be the worst time for this to happen as tensions between the African American and white communities are continuing to rise.

This book has so much heart and soul in it, that it's almost hard to read. You really go along with Cassie through the book, feeling her fear and her indignation. It's a really rich and contradictory world that she lives in, and none of it is watered down for the younger audience. There was a lot in here I didn't really know about before, like the issues confronting share-farmers in the south during this time.

At some points in the book, I actually had to put it down and walk away, because I was so angry with the circumstances that Cassie and the other characters were forced into. My sense of justice, of right and wrong, was really riled up when I was reading, particularly when reading about the differences in education. I know this would be a powerful book for students who have similar ideals of right and wrong.

I would connect this book to Mississippi Trial, 1955, The Rock and the River and One Crazy Summer for the simple fact that this is just one story in a much bigger narrative. I would also connect it to books like Digger J Jones and Who am I? from the Australian My Story series, to point out that injustice is not limited to any one part of the world.

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Book: Jacob Have I Loved

Jacob Have I Loved
Katherine Paterson, 1980

Hmm. I know this is a much loved book, written by an author who I enjoy very much. But although it wasn't a bad read, it wasn't a 'stick with you for ages afterwards' read. This might have something to do with the other books I read on the same day, but I just don't feel like it had the emotional punches I was expecting.

The title takes its name from the rivalry between twins. Louise is the elder, and in her mind at least, the least liked twin. Caroline is prettier and more talented and knows how to talk to people. Together with their parents and their increasingly abrasive grandmother, they live on a tiny Chesapeake island called Rass. The book is primarily set during the early 1940s, but other than the boys heading off to war, and a few shortages, there are much more important things in Louise's life than the second world war.

The writing itself is beautiful, you get a really good understanding of the area, leading me to connect it with Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman books, even though they're set at completely different times. But I started to get a little annoyed with the self-centered-ness of Louise. I almost wanted to shake her and tell her to get over herself. When she finally began to move forward in her life was when I started to like her more - unfortunately, that was probably the shortest part of the book.

An enjoyable read, but not as good as Terebithia or Gilly Hopkins.

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