Me and the Sky

June 15, 2019
For Beverley Bass, the sky had no limits. Bass always dreamed of taking to the skies. In her teens, she took flying lessons and earned her license. Her flights of fancy transcended recreational soaring, though: She yearned to be an airline pilot--when only men had that job. Undeterred, Bass continued training, earned more licenses, and took jobs male pilots turned down or left when better ones arose. Thanks to intelligence, determination, and skill, she developed solid experience and established an enviable reputation. Bass' big breaks came when American Airlines hired her as a flight engineer, then promoted her to co-pilot. Her lifelong aspiration became a reality when she became the first woman ever to captain an American Airlines commercial airliner. More history-making achievements followed. Then came 9/11. Flying from Paris to Dallas, Bass' jet was directed to Gander, Newfoundland, along with 37 other carriers, when U.S. airspace was closed after the twin towers fell. This is a soaring tale, told with verve by Bass herself together with Williams. The retro, cartoonish illustrations might seem at odds with the recent setting, but they succeed with this narrative, as they also evoke spirited enthusiasm. The artwork, starring a smiling, plucky white, blonde Bass, embraces people of color as well as of various ages, including among airline professionals; readers will notice graying and gray-haired individuals. Inspiring and up, up, and away all the way. (biographical note) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

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July 26, 2019

K-Gr 3-Bass, who'd always wanted to fly, overcame sexism and gender discrimination in the 1980s to become a commercial airline pilot. Bass and her coauthor, narrating in the third person, open with young Beverley's repeated attempts to fly off the family washing machine. They remind readers of this determination throughout their chronicle of one woman's persistence. The youngster convinced an aunt to take her to the airport to watch planes. After high school, Bass "drove herself" there to take flying lessons; soon she was flying for real. She took pilot jobs that men didn't want until she was finally hired by American Airlines, eventually attaining a captain's wings. An afterword describes further achievements; the astonishing hospitality in Newfoundland, whose inhabitants welcomed Captain Bass and her passengers as well as those of 37 other airliners who could not enter American airspace after the destruction of the World Trade Center; the musical version of that story, Come from Away; and the founding of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots. Stone's digitally created illustrations, ranging from vignettes to double-page spreads, show the world of a mid-20th-century Good Housekeeping magazine, albeit more integrated. One spread depicts the dashboard of the plane, Bass's hands on the controls, and puffy clouds in the blue sky in front of her. VERDICT A solid account of breaking through gender barriers. Readers can easily imagine the thrill and the challenge of mastering the increasingly complex technology of larger and larger commercial jetliners.-Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2019
Grades K-3 As a little girl, Beverley Bass wanted to fly so badly that she would climb up onto the washing machine and leap off the top. As she got older, that wish didn't go away, but in the '50s and '60s people only trusted men to fly their planes. Still, Beverley's determination only grew. Eventually, she got herself those flying lessons and worked her way through the jobs that men didn't want. At 34, she became the first woman to captain a U.S. commercial airliner. Though Beverley had to overcome many barriers to achieve her dream, the saturated cartoon illustrations, which pop against white backgrounds, are bright and optimistic, conveying her grit and conviction above all else. The text focuses mainly on her early life and the qualities that allowed her to achieve her goal; back matter delves further into her career and experiences as a pilot during September 11, which have been incorporated into the Tony-nominated musical Come From Away. An inspiring biography about one woman's determination to forge a new path.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)