Module 5 - Talkin' About Bessie - The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman

 

 Grimes, N. (2002). Talkin' about bessie: the story of aviator elizabeth coleman. New York:                 Orchard Company.

Summary 

 

This biography is written in an unique format.  Various people from Bessie Coleman's past tell about their experience with her.  The reader is informed at the beginning of the book that the facts are true, but the form is fictional.  In addition, each person tells about their experience with Bessie in a poetic, lyrical format.  The book begins with her childhood, told by her parents, teachers, and siblings.  The reader learns not only facts about her life, but also inside peeks to her personality.  The story continues as she travels to France to learn to fly, which includes stories from her fellow students and instructors.  The book shows how Bessie overcame discrimination due to her race and sex, to become the first African American female aviator.  

My Impression

I never read this book, even though I saw it often in the library.  I assumed it was a fact filled biography, and I was already familiar with Bessie Coleman.  What a wonderful surprise!  The format of this book is so unique.  The reader truly feels they are getting an inside look at Bessie Coleman.  One of my favorite parts is told by one of her laundry customers, a white woman who describes Bessie as 'unsettling' because she didn't look down.  Instead she looked her in the eyes, like they were equals.  This one part of the book shows the reader so much about Bessie, as well as the attitude of the world she was living in at that time.

Library Usage

After reading the book aloud, students will have become familiar with the format of the book.  They can then write a short paragraph about a part of their own lives, told through someone's perspective.  They could write from the perspective of a friend, relative, teacher, or even their school librarian!

Review

 

Grimes skillfully employs first-person testimonial verse to give young readers a fully realized portrait of African-American aviator Bessie Coleman. At Coleman's death, Grimes invites twenty individuals to a fictionalized wake and, in valedictory monologues, has each remember Bessie and the forces that shaped her life. Bessie's father tells about leaving the family when his daughter was "jus' a chile." Her mother recalls how she wanted Bessie to "first learn the wisdom of the Lawd, / and then, the wisdom of the world"; an older brother comments on her drive, how she "kept her focus fixed...to find a lifelong work of substance"; her flight instructor remembers how bravely Bessie flew a Nieuport 82 the day after witnessing one crash to the ground in flames; and a young fan reveres her idol: "I haven't made up my mind about being a pilot, / but Bessie made me believe I could be anything." E. B. Lewis personalizes the tributes (and a concluding testimonial from Bessie) with small photo-like, sepia-toned portraits of the speakers. Impressionistic watercolors on facing pages evoke each incident and often soften the harshness in Coleman's life. Taken as a whole, these illustrations portray a young woman yearning for and taking pride in that "lifelong work of substance." Although the assemblage of mourners is slightly contrived (would a field hand Coleman once worked alongside and a woman who once hired her to do laundry really be present at her wake?), their parts in Bessie's story are integral to her early life. Grimes separates fact from fiction through introductory comments on the historical period and the setting, concluding observations about Coleman, and source notes. Like Bessie, this tribute to her life soars.

Carter, B. (2003). Talkin' about Bessie. Horn Book Magazine, 79(1), 96-97.