American Wings

Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein

The Boomerang is a monthly digital downloadable product that features copywork and dictation passages from a specific novel. It is geared toward young teens ages 13-14 and is the indispensable tool for Brave Writer parents who want to teach language arts in a natural, literature-bathed context.

This guide contains the following features:

• 4 Passages (one per week) for copywork/dictation
• Notes about punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, literary devices & analysis 
  
• Beyond the Passage and Inside Scoop boxes
• Weekly Reading Guide
• Boomerang Planner and Skills Tracker
• 9 Think Piece questions
• Golden Lines prompt
• Book Club Party Ideas 
• 56 pages
• Publication Date: February 2025
  

About the book

In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?

American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield south of Chicago. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.

Featuring rare historical photographs, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.—Amazon

Purchase the American Wings novel here.



This Boomerang is also part of the 2024-2025 Year Long Boomerang program.