American Flygirl

Starred review from May 13, 2024
In this high-spirited account, historian Ankeny (The Girl and the Bombardier) profiles Hazel Ying Lee, the first Chinese American woman to fly for the U.S. military. Born in 1912 Portland, Ore., young Hazel was athletic, adventuresome, eager to break down social barriers for Asian American women, and restless in the menial jobs open to her. Shortly after falling in love with flying during a 1932 plane ride, she learned of a local flight school that was training Chinese Americans for China’s war effort against Japan. To raise money to attend (as the only woman trainee), Hazel finessed herself a job as an elevator operator at a department store where Asian workers had not previously been allowed in customer-facing roles. Once in China, due to her gender Hazel was relegated to desk work in Guangzhou. During Japan’s 1938 invasion of that city, friends credited her preternatural calm for saving their lives by facilitating their escape. Back in America, she became one of the first women pilots to fly combat aircraft domestically. Her service, which featured many risky missions, was cut short in 1944, when safety missteps by others led to Hazel’s death in a midair collision. Arkeny’s cinematic storytelling is buoyed by her zestful portrait of Hazel, who comes across as remarkably unfazed by her era’s rampant discrimination. It’s a compulsively readable tale of odds-defying derring-do.

September 13, 2024

Ankeny (The Girl and the Bombardier) traces the life of groundbreaking Chinese American pilot Hazel Ying Lee. Born in Portland, OR, to Chinese immigrants, Lee was taught to keep her head down and be invisible. In 1932, however, a chance ride in an airplane sealed her decision to become a pilot, as the sky was a place where she could feel free from racism and sexism. Lee obtained her pilot's license and later traveled to China to help the Chinese Air Force with China's war against Japan. She was relegated to desk work in China but came into her own when she flew for the U.S. as a WASP pilot. Tragically, her life was abruptly cut short in 1944 when she died in a midair collision. Hannah Choi narrates capably, but unfortunately, her aloof, clinical delivery belies the wit, disappointment, joy, and heartbreak that made Lee such a vibrant person. While Choi modulates her voice when conveying quotations, these moments are few and far between. Her flat pronunciation of Chinese names and places is decidedly American in accent, with no tonal changes. VERDICT Though the audio suffers from some narratorial flaws, Ankeny's book is a fascinating study of a courageous Chinese American aviator.--Stephanie Bange

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