Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J 921 SMITH | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | E 921 SMITH | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Elinor Smith was six when she first went for a ride in a rickety "flying machine," and she was just sixteen when she earned her aviation license in 1928. But not everyone thought that girls should fly. When male pilots and newspapermen mocked her, Elinor decided to perform an aerial maneuver they thought was impossible: flying under all four bridges that span New York City's East River. Gorgeous sweeping illustrations by François Roca show how Elinor pulled off this risky feat skillfully andwith style.
Author Notes
TAMI LEWIS BROWN lives in Washington, D.C. Soar, Elinor! is her first book.
FRANÇOIS ROCA has illustrated many picture books, including Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince and Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World by Jonah Winter. He lives and works outside Paris, France.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Look out, Amelia Earhart. This underdog story features a lesser-known female pilot who gained eminence in the 1920s. At age 16, Elinor Smith became the youngest pilot in the U.S. But when newspapers belittled her accomplishment, she took a dare to fly under one of New York City's bridges-upping the ante by flying under four of them. Roca's clean, vivid oils set the bold shapes of Elinor's planes against sweeping backgrounds of pea-green airfields and hazy blue skies. Debut author Brown skillfully builds suspense as Elinor studies each bridge, plans her route, and takes flight, leading to a nail- biting conclusion. It's a stirring tale of determination and moxie. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
This awe-filled biography describes how Elinor Smith became the youngest licensed pilot in the United States and, in 1928, at age seventeen, flew under all four bridges along Manhattan's East River. Roca's capable illustrations depict a confident Smith and Manhattanites at their most elegant. An author's note tells more about Smith's later life and of Brown's interviews with the pilot. Bib. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Inspiration soars from every page of this introduction to Elinor Smith, a Long Islander who took her first flight in 1917 at age six, became a licensed pilot at 16, was voted Best Woman Pilot in America over the likes of Amelia Earhart, went on to be a test pilot, and at 89, to fly NASA's space shuttle simulator. Presenting Smith as a capable young enthusiast steadfastly ignoring gender expectations to follow her dream, Brown centers the dramatic main narrative on the aviator's daring 1928 flight beneath four of New York's East River bridges, then tallies some of her many other accomplishments in an afterword. Smith displays star quality in Roca's accomplished full-bleed paintings, too a picture of slender, confident competence as graceful as the brightly colored, sturdy-looking biplanes she flies. Based on interviews with Smith herself (who died earlier this year) and archival material, Brown's debut makes a worthy companion to Julie Cummins' Women Daredevils (2008) and other celebrations of women who refused to do as they were told.--Peters, John Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Everyone has heard of Amelia Earhart, but she was not the only young woman fascinated by flight in the early 1900s. Elinor Smith began talking flying lessons in 1921 when she was only 10 years old. At 16, she was the youngest person in the U.S., man or woman, to earn a pilot's license. The climax of this picture-book biography is when Smith achieved acclaim as the first person to fly a plane under all four of New York City's bridges. Unlike the stories of Amelia Earhart and Harriet Quimby, this book has a happy ending. Smith lived to a ripe old age, and, according to an endnote, much of the book is based on interviews the author had with her before she passed away in March 2010. Brown's narration is fluent, engaging, and full of dialogue. The page-long endnote explains her research and sources. Realistic oil illustrations are similar in style to those in Muhammad Ali, Champion of the World (Random, 2007). Roca uses minimal background detail and skillfully arranges scenes to focus attention on the emotions and faces of the characters while still maintaining historical and geographical accuracy. This is an excellent introduction to a lesser-known but fascinating adventurer.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Elinor Smith died in March 2010 at the age of 98, but not before she had shared memories and memorabilia with the author, a licensed private pilot, who, with controlled passion, tells the story of the girl who, at age six in 1917, begged her father to allow her a ride in a biplane over the potato fields of Long Island, N.Y. She began flying lessons at ten, was licensed at 16 and accepted, perhaps unwisely, a bet from an older male pilot who said she couldn't fly under one of New York City's East River bridges. She flew under all four, taking the Brooklyn Bridge sideways, banking vertically to get between a tanker and a Navy destroyer that were passing underneath. Although her flight was illegal, she won kudos from Mayor Jimmy Walker. In the 1950s, after raising her children, Elinor went back to flying. Brown's prose is crystalline, lively and reads well aloud. Roca captures the air and sky beautifully, although his figures and landscapes are rather static on the pagea minor flaw in an otherwise inspiring account. (author's note, sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
