CCBC Booklists

CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

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The Hallelujah Flight

by Phil Bildner

CCBC Review:

James Banning set out to be the first African American to make a transcontinental flight across the country with few resources but a single great idea: invite everyone who was willing to help him and copilot Thomas Allen along the way to sign the wings of the plane so that they could be part of the journey. Banning and Allen were relying on people to donate everything from fuel to food to a place to sleep as they traveled from place to place in the midst of the Depression in 1932. They weren’t always welcomed where they landed, and they sometimes faced overt racism, but they completed their historic flight thanks to the kindness of strangers whose names they carried with them. Phil Bildner’s fictionalized account of Banning and Allen’s optimism and accomplishment is distinguished by lively, language-rich storytelling and is set against John Holyfield’s buoyant, upbeat illustrations. ©2010 Cooperative Children's Book Center

Illustrated by John Holyfield

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-9
Age Range: PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: 20th Century African Americans Flight/Aviation Historical Fiction Kindness Racism
Diversity subject: Black/African
On CCBC Booklist: Between Fact and Fiction: Selected Picture Books to Encourage Critical Reading/Thinking

Publisher: Putnam
Publish Year: 2010
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780399247897
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Bildner

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