Eugene Bullard: World's First Black Fighter Pilot

Eugene Bullard: World's First Black Fighter Pilot
160 Pages
ISBN 978-1588382801

Gold Medal Winner, 2014 Moonbeam Spirit Award in Nonfiction; Best Young Adult Book in the 2014 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards; Silver Medal Winner 2016 Military Writers Society of America; and named a Top 10 Multicultural Nonfiction Book for Youth: 2015 by Booklist.

This fast-paced and informative young adult biography tells the story of pioneering black aviator Eugene Bullard from his birth in 1895 to his combat experiences in both World War I and II and, finally, his return to America. Before the United States joined World War I, a few Americans fought on France's side, including Eugene Jacques Bullard, the grandson of a slave.

Bullard had faced discrimination in the U.S. and even the threat of lynching, but while growing up, he had listened spellbound to his father's stories about how France treated everyone equally. He ran away from home at twelve and eventually made his way to France, where he joined the French Foreign Legion and later the Lafayette Flying Corps, to become the world's first black fighter pilot. All the medals he received, however, weren't enough to fend off the prejudice he still faced when he returned to the United States.

Larry Greenly

About Larry Greenly (Albuquerque, New Mexico Author)

Larry Greenly

Armed with degrees in physics/math, architecture, civil engineering and chiropractic, Larry Greenly has led a multi-faceted life as a teacher, engineer and doctor of chiropractic. His career as a freelance writer/editor of myriad non-fiction articles began over 30 years ago with a long-running medical column in professional journals. Along the way, Greenly garnered a number of writing awards, including the Parris Award and a National Federation of Press Women regional 1st place and 2nd place national award for his literary page in a local magazine.

His book, Eugene Bullard: World's First Black Fighter Pilot, was named a 2015 Booklist Top Ten Multicultural Nonfiction Book for Youth; won a Gold Medal in the 2014 National Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, won Best Young Adult Book in the 2014 NM/AZ Book Awards, won a Silver Medal in the 2016 Military Writers Society of America Awards, was a finalist in the SCBWI Southwest Region Crystal Kite Award; earned a starred review from the American Library Association (ALA) and earned a recommendation from Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA). Greenly lives in New Mexico.