Synopsis: Bessie Coleman is one of America's unsung Aviation heroes. Born to former slaves in Texas, Bessie knows what it feels like to toil in the fields picking cotton and suffering under the Klan and white supremacy. She, however, was a dream! When she was just a young girl, Bessie heard of the fantastic exploits of the Wright Brothers, and ever since then, she has dreamed of flying. She knows that if she stays in the deep South, that dream will never come true. So, she embarks on a lifelong journey to reach the sky. Starting with life up north in Chicago, Bessie quickly learns no one in America will teach an African American woman to fly, so she heads to France. Bessie is the first African American and American of any race to obtain an international aviation license from France. She continues learning barnstorming and aviation aerobatics in Holland and Germany.

Thoughts: Before I picked up this book, I had never heard of Bessie Coleman, which is a shame. Bessie was a brave and courageous soul whose story should be inspiring millions; instead, until now, she has been hiding away, forgotten in the history books. This book does not hold anything back, and I love it. It fully describes the challenges that an African American living in the early 1900s would have faced, from lynchings, beatings, and rape to the day to to day humiliation our African American brothers and sisters faced. But, through it all, Bessie held her head high and made her dreams come true! Carole Hopson has written an excellent historical fiction novel of Bessie's life. While some parts seemed to drag on, I could not put this book down. With each victory, I cheered for Bessie! Hopson, a pilot herself, keeps Bessie's dream of encouraging African American women to take to the skies! Hopson has founded a non-profit scholarship for African American pilots, hoping to send 100 women to flight school by the year 2035.
https://www.jetblackfoundation.org/

Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was born in a shotgun shack on January 26th, 1892 in Atlanta, TX, to her parents, Susan and George Coleman. Still under the oppressive heat that were Jim Crow laws in the south and racism and lynchings across the country, Bessie always knew she wanted more than what this part of life gave her.
On December 3rd, 1903 as she was cleaning the home of a white family, she overheard a conversation. One that would change her entire life as she knew it.
She would, from that moment, be on a life-long mission of proving herself, defying the odds, and setting records.
More importantly, she would fly.

A Pair of Wings is one for the ages.
Corporate executive-turned-first officer pilot, Carole Hopson, does a phenomenal job at bringing Bessie to life right in front of our eyes and in our minds.

If you want to be taken on a journey halfway around the world and see things from a perspective you probably weren't taught in school, this is the book for you.

Thank you so much to Henry Holt and Co along with NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for a review. As soon as I finished this book, I went and watched videos, read, and listened to podcasts about Bessie. I will never forget her, or the author who gave so much of her heart and soul for this book.