Meghan McCarthy's (Seabiscuit: Wonder Horse) picture book biography describes an inspiring young woman for any era, but especially for the period in which she lived.
"While most girls played with their dolls," the author begins, "Betty Skelton played with her metal plane." It's the Depression, and "airplanes were still very new... and exciting." Young Betty and her family lived near a navy base where she could view the planes up close. "Betty yearned to know more. She wanted to touch the sky," writes McCarthy. By the time Betty turns 16, she is flying solo.
McCarthy sticks to the facts, yet crafts a lyrical narrative: "As Betty grew bigger, so did her dreams." Betty wants to make flying her vocation. But only men could be commercial pilots in the 1940s. So she became an aerobatic flier instead, and broke an altitude record (29,050 feet--higher than Mount Everest). From there she moved on to jet-powered cars (and broke the women's record with 315.74 mph) and boat jumping: "She'd conquered the sky, the land, and the water. What would be next?" Skelton became the first woman to train for the space program. Although she was not one of the Mercury 7, Betty proved that she had "the right stuff."
McCarthy's mix of full-page illustrations and comics-style vignettes keeps the tone light while also emphasizing the importance of Skelton's ground-breaking achievements. Meaty backmatter offers a sampling of Skelton's clever quotes, a time line and suggestions for further reading. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness