About the Author:
Jim Haskins is professor of English at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and lives in New York City and Gainesville. He currently serves as general editor of the Hippocrene Great Religions of the World series, and was general editor of The Filipino Nations, a three-volume work. Formerly Vice Director, Southeast Region, of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., he is currently a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution and a member of the Framework Development Committee of CIVITAS, a national civic education framework. Author of numerous articles, he also reviews books for the Gainesville Sun and other publications. He is the award-winning author of more than 100 books for both adults and young adults.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 5-8-A labored effort to create a comprehensive picture of pioneers in black aviation, from Eugene Bullard, who served in the French flying corps in World War I when the U.S. Army would only allow whites to fly, to the first black astronauts. Haskins briefly surveys mainstream aviation firsts and cultural history to provide background, but his narrative moves a lot more smoothly when he devotes more space to a single individual, e.g., Bessie Coleman, Benjamin Davis, Jr., and Guion Bluford. Philip S. Hart's Flying Free (Lerner, 1992) tells a clearer, more readable story through the 1930s, but Haskins carries the story further, giving more information about black achievements and problems in World War II and introducing more black astronauts. Black-and-white photos and reproductions appear throughout.
Margaret Chatham, formerly at Smithtown Library, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.