I have always been a fan of stories from the early days of aviation. I was particularly inspired by the aviatrixes who took to the skies despite the prejudices against them. In this gorgeously illustrated book we encounter some of them as our heroines try to do their part to help with the war effort.

" The year is 1927, and in America, England and Russia, three young girls share the dream of becoming pilots. Against the odds, these ambitious young trailblazers follow their hearts, enrolling in pilot school (some in secret) and eventually flying for their countries in World War II."

oh my glob i loved this graphic novel so so much! Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy for my honest review!
This book is a great read for young female readers. It shows how important woman were WW2. Book is beautifully written and illustrated. Great great read! Buy it for the little girl in your life!

This story tells the parallel stories of three young women fliers and how they each became an aviator supporting their country during WWII. The illustrations are done in a beautiful, period style.

his "creative nonfiction" book is well designed, with appealing pictures, a chapter book in a picture book format, and it is well-written. However, there is not enough background material to provide factual support to the story, a major omission if we want to encourage students to dig deeper into the subject, besides not providing context young readers might need. I finished the book not knowing which parts of the story were fiction and which were true. On the other hand, as fiction, the nonfiction purpose of the book overwhelmed story, making it difficult to connect with the characters. So, I recommend it with reservations: a good book, but not outstanding.

Skyward: the Story of Female Pilots in WWII is a children's, informational picturebook written and illustrated by Sally Deng. The year is 1927, and in America, England and Russia, three young girls share the dream of becoming pilots. Against the odds, these ambitious young trailblazers follow their hearts, enrolling in pilot school (some in secret) and eventually flying for their countries in World War II. This book lets readers follow the adventures of these young female pioneers as they battle not only enemies in the skies but sexism and inequality in their own teams. It includes legends like Jackie "Speed Queen" Cochran. Risking their lives countless times in feats of incredible bravery, the female air pilots--WASPS--of the Second World War are honored in this beautiful story based on actual events, illustrated in Sally Deng's raw, dynamic style.

Skyward: the Story of Female Pilots in WWII is a fabulous fictional reimagining of what a few real female pilots might have felt and endured before, during, and after WWII. Like may females in fields typically dominated by men the three pilots Deng focus's on face more hurdles than simple mastering a skill set. They face the hardships of regular life during the war, but also breaking barriers that allow them to train and then use their talents for the greater good. they each faced different issues and challenges along the way, but young readers will be able to empathize with their needs to follow their dreams and fit in with their family and friends. I really like that the three pilots are from different backgrounds and face different reactions from their families. I also enjoyed the information on the day to day lives of the pilots during the war,m showing the hard work and comradery that was part of the journey. It really shows the differences and similarities we all have underneath it all. I hope young readers come away from this book with that message, and determined to follow their dreams and support others along the way.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Skyward looks at the wartime experiences of three female allied pilots: Hazel in America, Marlene in Britain, and Lilyou in Russia. The book looks at how things were alike and different for each woman. Skyward did a great job explaining the Second World War and the role that women played in it, making it an excellent introduction to the war. I also adored the illustrations.

Basic Plot: This is the story of three Allied pilots during World War II... who all happen to be women. Hazel is from the U.S., Marlene is from England, Lilya is from the Soviet Union.

WHAT’S COOL…
1) I loved the illustrations! Nicely done.

2) This is a history book that tells you the little things about history. (Like the fact that the women were given uniforms that were too big for them. Makes sense since the uniforms would have been originally made for men.) They had to use their sewing skills to make the uniforms wearable!

3) None of these women are famous. And while I like reading about famous people who did great things, I also love reading about the regular people who did their part to win the war. (According to the author's note, Hazel from the U.S. seems to have been a real person. Not sure about the other two. But I'm sure she did her research to get their experiences.)

4) I did like that we get three different experiences with these three different women, each from a different part of the world.

WHAT’S NOT COOL…
1) At times I was a little confused about which woman was from where. Especially at the beginning of the story. It starts with Hazel and then moves on to Marlene and for some reason, I thought they were the same girl. I wish there had been tags or something to remind us that Hazel was from the U.S., Marlene was from England, etc.

2) Hazel is of Chinese heritage, however, this wasn't very clear in the book. It's only hinted at when she and her friend (who happens to be black) are thinking of  joining the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots). One of them says: "A Chinese American and an African American want to join? They will think us crazy and laugh in our faces." I'm pretty sure the term African American would not have been used in 1942-3. Little things like that do bother me, especially since it's in dialogue of people from the era. If it had been the narrator, I'd be okay with it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My rating is 4 Stars (out of 5) – I enjoyed this look into the history of women pilots in World War II. I'm pretty much a sucker for anything to do with WWII, so this was right up my alley. It's a picture book, but it's definitely meant for older kids (as there's a lot of text).

This type of book, showing how women and POC in the past had important jobs that they loved, but it hasn't been talked about until now, is popping up more and more and I couldn't be happier about it! As far as I am concerned, we NEED these books. History has been white washed and male-centric for far too long. No offense, but great and small moments in history happened with ALL humans, old, young, male, female, all religions and no religion, all shapes and sizes. That needs to be acknowledged and this book helps to shine some light on a small group of amazing women who made a difference while doing a "man's" job.

This book is a good introduction to younger readers about the past injustices and how women were able to overcome some of it during WWII as pilots. It doesn't go overly in-depth, for example, it does touch on how African American women weren't allowed to be pilots in America during WWII, but that's all it does, just touch on it and then moves on.

Also, until the end, I didn't realize that Hazel was Chinese American. I must have missed that part in the beginning. But that was pretty cool to learn. I like how the book was divided between three different women from three different countries, America, England and Russia. So three different perspectives and reactions to women flying in WWII. Though I have to say, the Russians were leaps and bounds ahead of America and England in terms of letting the women fly in actual combat. It was nice to see a different perspective than the one I am used to.

The artwork is pretty. Pastel and relaxed in style. Very calming.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4, because despite how far we have come, we still need books like this. I would say this is geared towards advanced young readers and middle readers on up.

My thanks to NetGalley and Nobrow Flying Eye Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

While I enjoyed learning about the three young women who became pilots and examining the many interesting illustrations, I am still unsure which parts of the book are fact and which are fiction. How are readers to know when the author only tells us that “some parts have been fictionalized to varying degrees.” I would have preferred a more in-depth look at one of these women or chapters on each rather than hopping from one story to another.

A beautiful and inspiring historic picture book about female pilots during WWII. The story follows 3 women who dream of becoming pilots, their training, their flying and post war-world. The story is full of bravery, determination, and empowerment, important lessons for today's young girls.

Thank you Netgally and Flying Eye Books for an advanced copy.

Historic picture book, right up my alley. I loved learning more about the female pilots in WWII. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, too. One more book about cool women in history! Yay, girls!

Skyward is such an inspiring and beautiful book. The stories of Lilya, Hazel, and Marlene are full of bravery, determination, and empowerment. Meanwhile, the illustrations add a whimsical element to the stories and allow for imagination alongside the visual interpretation of the story. Skyward also conveys important and difficult details (i.e. death of friends, leaving family, sexism) in a meaningful yet accessible manner for young readers.

This is the story of 3 women from pilots who served during WW2. Hazel, Marlene and Lilya battled adversity to do something extraordinary. The accompanying pictures lend a beautiful homage to these brave women. Children, teens and adults would find something special in this wonderful book.

This was a great insight into the lives and careers of three powerful women. What I particularly liked is that these women weren’t especially well known, they were just everyday people who did their best to help in the circumstances they found themselves, and at least in somemeasure got to live their dream. It was also nice to see a lot more of an in-depth story as opposed to the many other similar books out nowadays that give more of a brief summary.

Set during WWII, Skyward follows the lives of three young girls who share the dream of becoming pilots. The book jumps from character to character, attempting to chronologically follow the three separate women. The illustrations are lovely. It almost reads like a nonfiction, but there are no sources, so I would categorize it as fictional.. As a fiction book the characters lack depth. Overall, this book fell flat for me.

I love the concept behind this book and the illustrations work wonderfully alongside the text to deliver a fantastic and meaningful reading experience. This is definitely a book we will add to our library collection!

I liked the illustrations and the inspiring story. It included details that I never would have thought of, such as the women’s uniforms not fitting because they were designed for men.

This was a fun look at three young girls who grew up fascinated by airplanes and each eventually became pilots in WWII. The writing style was a little simplistic, with each section going through and telling the experiences of each girl individually, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I loved the style of the illustrations, even if some of the pages seemed a little stark.

When I was in elementary school, there was a section of the school library that held biographies of famous people. (921 dewey decimal system.) My favorites were the childhoods of the famous, and that was where I first came across the life story of Amelia Earhart. The thing that struck me, at the time, was that flying lessons were $100. This was back in the Depression, and I knew that, and so I wondered how much it would have cost today. It got me thinking about these sorts of things, at a young age.

The reason I bring this up, is because of this book, which is not about one, or two, but a whole group of women that flew during WWII. The author focuses on one from the US, one from the UK and one from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's group of flying women were known as the Night Witches, by the Nazis, whom they were bombing.

The pictures are amazing. The story is good too, but this being a picture book, it is the pictures that are important as well.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-475" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-13-at-4.57.08-PM.png" alt="" />

Each woman in uniform.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-474" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-13-at-5.00.17-PM.png" alt="" />

A plane crash, that the pilot survived.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-476" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-13-at-5.33.49-PM.png" alt="" />

Of course, once the war was over, the women were all expected to go back to the kitchen and stay there, but some did not, and so this opened the doors to the female pilots of today.

Great story to show kids of today what women went through back, now 70 years ago. (Hard to believe it was that long ago). Also good so that this peice of history is not lost.

The author said she started researching for this book when she saw a picture of Hazel Ying Lee, a Chinese-American pilot in WWII, and wondered about that, and who she was.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Skyward: The Story of Female Pilots in WWII, by Sally Deng, is a solid look at a trio of early women fliers, with a throwback kind of art style that works nicely and a good bit of narrative vividness to enhance the basic information.

I have one early caveat, and that is due to a note at the beginning of the book that the story is only “based” on actual women and events, but “the characters and some parts of the story have been fictionalized to varying degrees.” I appreciate the warning, and any historical work that presents actual conversation/dialog I expect has added some creativity to the mix, but I would have preferred that Deng went into this in more detail in an introduction or afterward. As it is now, it’s so vague that I don’t know where she draws the line. Did those mentioned as killed actually die? Were they real people at all? Did the main women actually know them? Did one of the female pilots actually have a near-encounter with a German hostile? Did one actually have to do a forced landing? Was one actually threatened when people thought she was a spy? Those are too many questions in a work that purports to inform, so a bit more detail on just what aspects were fictionalized would have been quite helpful.

Beyond that one issue (unfortunately it’s a pretty big issue for me), there’s quite a lot to like here. One is the international flavor of the book, with Hazel in San Francisco, Marlene in England, and Lilya in Russia. Another is the aforementioned vividness of the prose. When the three young girls first become intrigued with flying, it’s introduced with invigoratingly visceral language rather than a dry recitation of facts. Hazel, for instance, touches her first plane an “when the engine roared to life, it was so loud that Hazel felt the vibrations travel through her body and rumble in her chest.” And when Lilya gets up close to her first aircraft—one with mechanical issues— “the small trail of smoke rising up caused her nose to wrinkle and her eyes to water.”

The three dream of becoming pilots and find their way to doing so, overcoming obstacles such as money issues or a scornful patriarchal society. World War II though offers opportunities which they quickly take advantage of. Hazel becomes a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), Marlene joins the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary), and Lily becomes a member of the all-female 588th regiment, the only one of them to fly actual combat missions (the others ferried planes between bases or towed targets or other such missions). They continue to face discrimination both overt and more subtle, such as being given ill-fitting uniforms or having to deal with doctors that “aren’t that familiar with the female body.” Toward the end we get a summation of just what these three accomplished (flying 78 different planes, delivering almost a 1000 airplanes to bases, flying over 800 combat missions) as well as what they did for those who came after them as they “paved a new path for young girls in the generations to come.”

The illustrations as noted have a bit of a throwback feel to them which meshes well with the historical nature of the text. They’re mostly soft, pleasing colors and they vary from complicated images full of tiny figures (such as a panel depicting a battlefield) to a full-page image of Marlene in flight goggles against a streaky sky interrupted only by three small words. One more deeply colorful and highly effective image is a full page one of Lilya on a bombing mission set against a rich blue sky and a hanging crescent moon. Deng does a particularly nice job with sky, which obviously works out well for a book about flying.

Overall, I really quite liked the book for both its text and its illustration, though I wish I didn’t have that nagging question about what is fact and what is fiction. But I’d still recommend this for young readers; it’s both informative and inspiring.