Listen to the poem, “Pearl Harbor,” from You Can Fly the Tuskegee Airmen by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford (Published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster).

Listen here.

December 7 marks the 76th anniversary of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that destroyed the Pacific Fleet, left 2,403 Americans dead and drew the United States into World War II. Watch President Franklin Roosevelt’s address to the nation, declar war.

For saving lives that day, Dorie Miller (below left) was awarded the Navy Cross—the first African American honoree in the conflict.

Credit: Library of Congress

Art by Jeffery Weatherford from You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

Boxing champion Joe Louis (far right) did his part by appearing on an Army recruitment poster and pressing to get Jackie Robinson and other black men into Officer Candidate School. But rather than seek a commission himself, Louis enlisted.

Art by Jeffery Weatherford from You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

Art by Jeffery Weatherford from You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen

Though eager to fight, the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military pilots, were not deployed until 17 months after Pearl Harbor. These pioneering heroes went on to fly 205 bombing missions—200 without losing one bomber—and to destroy one enemy destroyer (with bullets alone!), 262 German planes and 950 vehicles. Their records not only defied racist stereotypes but also led to desegregation of the U.S. military, paving the way for the Civil Rights Movement.

The Book

The verse novel You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen follows the legendary squadrons from training in Alabama to triumph on the battlefield as they fight fascism overseas and racism on the home front. Second person poems put readers in the cockpit.

Author and illustrator launched You Can Fly at Barnaby Manor Elementary School in Prince George’s County, Md. Book a visit or virtual lecture for your school. Contact cbwpoet@gmail.com.

Honors & Praise for You Can Fly

 ALA Notable Children’s Books

CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book

Great Lakes Great Books Master List (MI)

NCTE Notable Poetry List

NCTE Notable Verse Novel List

New York Public Library Best Books for Kids

A masterful, inspiring evocation of an era.—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

[A] gripping historical story, reinforced by dramatically shaded scratchboard illustrations…—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Activity

Here’s a Tuskegee Airmen paper airplane reproducible to lift the ceiling off of students’ dreams. On the blank side list character traits of the Tuskegee Airmen plus one of more uplifting quotations. Then, fold the airplane. Students can trade airplanes with friends.

Primary Sources

Browse WWII and Tuskegee Airmen photos from the Library of Congress and National Archives.

View documents from the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

Read President Harry Truman’s 1948 Executive Order desegregating the U.S. Military.

Watch the U.S. Army recruiting film “Wings for This Man.” It’s narrated by actor named Ronald Reagan, who went on to become the 40th President of the United States.

Original Art from You Can Fly Is Now Touring

The most recent stop for the touring exhibition was Atlanta Public Library’s Auburn Avenue Research Center. Before that, the original art was displayed at Fayetteville State University, Guilford Technical Community College and Cumberland County Public Library. The next stop is Oxon Hill Public Library in Maryland. Contact us to find out how to bring the exhibition to your area.

Schomburg: The Man Who Build a Library (Candlewick, August 2017), my  fifth collaboration with Eric Velasquez; and In Your Hands (Atheneum/Simon& Schuster), my first book with Brian Pinkney, have both earned four starred reviews. The stars came from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Booklist and Publishers Weekly. Both books reflect my mission of truth-telling. Reviewers, thanks for all the love.

Review of The Legendary Miss Lena Horne at Librarian’s Quest blog. Many thanks.

http://librariansquest.blogspot.com/2017/01/singing-from-her-heart.html

Poetry and jazz are perfectly paired in April–the month when Lady Day, my muse, was born. Stream my fictional verse memoir, Becoming Billie Holiday, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Free of charge if your public library subscribes to Hoopla.

Dorothea Lange: How the Photographer Found the Faces of the Depression. Art by debut illustrator Sarah Green. Snap, snap.

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, has received three starred reviews. I hope that this biography will shine the spotlight on Lena for a new generation of admirers.

• * “Weatherford’s writing is succinct and inspirational. Zunon’s oil paint and cut-paper collage illustrations are more than a match for Horne’s dynamic onstage presence. Their dramatic design showcases a . . . memorable life dedicated to music and civil rights, presented with commensurate style.”– Kirkus Reviews, starred review
• * “An exceptionally handsome book. . . . Weatherford’s informative yet succinct text is juxtaposed against a happily oversize picture-book format that allows enough room for Zunon’s impressive oil-paint and collage artwork.”– Booklist, starred review
• * “Weatherford and Zunon vibrantly capture the setbacks and triumphs of African-American performer Lena Horne tracing her rise from a Brooklyn childhood to a singer and actress who faced persistent racism.”– Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Association for Library Service  to Children selected two of my books for its 2017 Notables list.

Freedom in Congo Square, illustrated by Gregory Christie

You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatheford

This news capped a wonderful ALA Midwinter for me during which Freedom in Congo Square won the Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Congratulations to both illustrators on what has been a spectacular awards season. I look forward to our future collaborations.

Being given a book of your own to take home and keep is great. Being given a handmade reading blanket to go with the book is even better.

That’s what happened with second-graders at Cook Literacy Model School and the Elementary School Academy n Winston-Salem, N.C. Last fall, five women from the Beta Mu chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society came to the media center at Cook with a box of books–my own Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins–and bag after bag of handmade blankets.

Doesn’t this make you feel warm and fuzzy? Read more here.

The American Library Association Youth Media Awards were announced today in Atlanta. My collaborator Gregory Christie won Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honors for his illustrations in our picture book Freedom in Congo Square. Congratulations to Greg and thanks to our editor Sonali Fry.

The April master class themed “Poetic License Renewal” was a day to be remembered. Promising manuscripts and wonderful people. Next up is the June 9-11 weekend intensive. Spaces only for 8.