Bessie Coleman: Pioneering Black Woman Aviator

Bessie Coleman: Pioneering Black Woman Aviator
by John B. Holway

I came across a link to Bessie Coleman: Pioneering Black Woman Aviator (Amazon / Goodreads) and decided on a whim to check it out. I'm glad I did! John B. Holway has spent much of his career writing about the stars of Baseball's Negro Leagues, and for this very entertaining and informative telling of Bessie Coleman's story his expertise in the era shines through in the voices of the people who lived and dreamed in 1920s Chicago.

This short book is chock full of information presented in a lively and engaging style. It feels almost like it had originally been written as a screenplay and then adapted to text -- Holway develops each scene on the page as though it were unfolding on the big screen. And it would appear he applies a bit of artistic license with the minor facts to embellish the scene. For example, while I have no doubt Bessie Coleman was familiar with Louis Armstrong and may have even seen him perform in nightclubs in Chicago, I doubt she was friends with him. Maybe she was, but even if she wasn't, it's an entertaining thought to think of her meeting up with "her old friends Josephine Baker and Louis Armstrong" in Paris.

Bessie Coleman: Pioneering Black Woman Aviator (Amazon / Goodreads) earns the Self-Rescuing Princess Society seal of approval simply because it is such a delightful read about this remarkable, larger-than-life woman and her indomitable spirit. At 28 pages, it's a good introduction to her life with a quick introduction to the key people of the time and a basic overview of world events.

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