aviation, Chinese Americans, Natl-WW2-museum, Exclusion Act, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, history-and-culture, nonfiction, military, military-aviation-history, women, women-in-history, pioneering-spirit*****

Women Airforce Service Pilot Hazel Ying Lee Louie (August 12,1912-November 25, 1944) was the 38th and final WASP to die in the line of duty. She was 32 years old. She is also a main focus of this historically correct but very readable nonfiction book about her and the other women pioneers in flying for the military. Although a US citizen, Hazel's first flying training was because of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) where she was prepared to serve for the country of her parents in the days prior to internment camps and the US entry into the war. There is information about other women who pioneered in aviation and military aviation (see also The Women with Silver Wings), but this woman is the main focus of a book well researched and well written.
I requested and received an EARC which excluded all of the illustrations from Kensington Books, Citadel via NetGalley. Thank you

Thank you to Kensington Books and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
I really liked this book. It is the story of Hazel Ying Lee, the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license. She joined the WASP's and flew for the United States military in WWII. I admired her courage so much. She was very brave to face all the prejudice (being a woman and being Chinese) that she lived through. I thought this story was very well-written and very well researched by the author. Although she died young, she accomplished a lot in her short life. Highly recommend to all readers that like learning about early aviators!

Hazel Ying Lee (August 24, 1912–November 25, 1944),was born in Portland, Oregon.Her parents were first-generation Chinese Americans who had immigrated from Taishan,Guangdong.The family owned a restaurant in Old Town Chinatown.Despite the widespread anti-Chinese bias,Lee led a full and active life.Following graduation from Commerce High School in 1929,Lee worked as an elevator operator at Liebes Department Store in downtown Portland.In 1932, Lee caught the flying bug after her first airplane ride.She joined the Chinese Flying Club of Portland and took flying lessons with famed aviator Al Greenwood.In October 1932, Lee became one of the first Chinese-American women to earn a pilot's license.While in Portland, Lee met her future husband pilot "Clifford" Louie Yim-qun.When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1933, Lee and several other Chinese Americans went there with the goal of aiding the Chinese Air Force.Despite demand for pilots,the Republic of China Air Force would not admit women.So Lee had to take a desk job,flying only occasionally for a commercial Chinese company.Frustrated,Lee instead settled in Canton and spent the next few years flying for a private airline.In 1937,the Second Sino-Japanese War begun.Lee remained in China and was in Canton during aerial bombings,she found shelter for friends,neighbours and family.In 1938,following another unsuccessful effort to aid the Air Force as a pilot, Lee returned to the US through escaping China to Hong Kong.In New York City, Lee got job as a buyer of war materials for besieged China.During WWII,Lee joined the WASPs.Lee was the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the US military.Lee quickly emerged as a leader among the WASPs.She was calm,fearless,humorous and friendly.Upon graduation,Lee was assigned to the Third Ferrying Group at Romulus,MI.In September 1944,Lee was sent to Pursuit School,to fly faster,high powered fighters.On November 23 1944,at Great Falls,MT,Lee's P-63 Kingcobra collided with another P-63 and Lee's plane caught fire,and 2 days later,Lee tragically died of severe burns.She is buried alongside her brother Victor in River View Cemetery in Portland.Lee was a trailblazer.

This biography of Hazel Ying Lee, the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license, let's the reader get to know her life story and the pioneering efforts of women during WWII to serve their country as well as fulfill their dreams of flying.

If there is one thing for sure after reading Susan Tate Ankeny's American Flygirl, it's that Hazel Ying Lee deserves this book written about her. Hazel was the first Asian American women to earn a pilot's license and would ultimately end up becoming a WASP in World War II. Hazel had an amazing life and I am glad to get acquainted with her.

Ankeny is a good writer and the story is a good one. Unfortunately, it very much seems like there was not a lot of material for Ankeny to pull from. This is a relatively short biography, but even then, there are a lot of side characters throughout. It sometimes feels like Hazel takes a backseat to other people. While Ankeny seems like a good author (and I am interested in her previous book after reading this one), I definitely felt like this book was padded because not enough of Hazel's life was documented. This would probably have been much better if it was historical fiction and Ankeny could let her imagination fill in the gaps.

(This book was provided as an advanced copy by Netgalley and Kensington Books.)

American Flygirl by Susan Tate Ankeny brings to life a part of history I knew very little about. I had heard of the WASPs during WWII but did not realize how little I knew about them. This book tells the story of Hazel Ying Lee, the first Chinese American to earn her pilot’s license in 1932. She moved to China to help fight against the Japanese. Several years later, she returned to the States. In 1942, trailblazer, Jackie Cochran started the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Hazel applied and was accepted into one of the early training classes. The racism she dealt with and the gender discrimination she and her fellow WASPs fought to overcome, helped open doors for women in the future. This is an excellent book which I highly recommend.

'In the sky, she wasn't Chinese or American, man or woman, visible or invisible...she was just herself. In the sky, she felt limitless'.

In 1932, Hazel Lee was the first Chinese American woman in the USA to earn her pilot's license. Driven purely by a love to fly, she fought the quagmire of legalities, racism, and misogynistic attitudes to fly planes. Her first opportunity was, bizarrely, talking herself into a programme that trained Chinese American men to fly in order to join the Chinese Airforce to fight the Japanese invasion. Soon though, the call was to return to American soil and help with their WW2 effort by becoming a WASP. Despite all of the rigorous training and daring feats performed by herself, and increasingly more women pilots, the wall of gender bias continued to shadow the women's aviation contribution to the war effort. 'American Flygirl' turns on the spotlight.

I learned a lot from reading this book. Not simply about the feats of Hazel, nor the tour de force of women's aviation in WW2, but a wider history of the war and the Japanese invasion of China. Anyone who is interested in women's history, especially their contribution to WW2 is bound to enjoy it.