A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth E. Wein

 

A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth E. Wein

Reviewed by Erykah Edora, Maritza Gonzalez, Aisha Elwan, Dayna Mckendall, Ray Flores

Review:

"A Thousand Sisters isn't an academic research. It's an accessible...introduction to a fascinating topic, and it's aimed at young readers who mostly won't have any more Russian than I do," 一 from Elizabeth Wein's Author's Note in A Thousand Sisters, pg. 370

It's not uncommon for the voices of women to be silenced within narratives written for young adults and young adolescents. It is especially unlikely for the stories of Russian women, who fought during the plight of World War II, to be shared and discussed among an American audience. This status quo is one that Elizabeth Wein seeks to challenge with her non-fiction entitled A Thousand Sisters. Wein's novel chronicles the deadly challenges of war as embarked upon by a team of all-women fighter pilots, referred to as the Night Witches. Children's stories that focus on the history of Russian women's efforts within WWII are few and far between within an American education system that tends to ban the narratives they don't agree with. For this reason, A Thousand Sisters accomplishes diversifying World War II non-fiction narratives to include the voices of women, and highlights an account of history that is often buried beneath those provided by men. 

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein succeeds in the great and daunting task of making an accessible summary of the work and history of these women, but fails to present their stories in a way that is moving or evocative for young readers. The book is certainly accessible as the writing is extremely simplistic一 perhaps a smart choice since it covers such dense subject matter regarding World War II, the political conditions of the USSR, and, literally, a thousand sisters, as these airwomen called themselves一 however, it's too simplistic for its target audience. While this book is categorized under young adult, it should be noted that Wein never explicitly says young "adult"一 she only says "young." This book, though, is too large and the content is far too mature to be for children under 12. So, if this is for young adult readers, although it's an "easy read" with simple vocabulary, a chronological order, and ample supporting information, it's not engaging一 regardless of who is reading, which is ultimately where I find its failure. This book was no laser-point, spotlight, nor illumination of this overlooked part of history. The light that Wein sheds on this part of history is blinding and monotonous. The book is dense, flat, and overwhelming. Her intense research and simplified writing is in vain. There is nothing remarkable about it, other than its mediocre "storytelling," which is disappointing since the book is about remarkable women. Perhaps A Thousand Sisters should've just been condensed to only three of them一 like the three women on the cover (Marina Raskova, Lilya Litvyak, and Zhenya Rudneva). If her objective was to create an "introduction to a fascinating topic...aimed at young readers," then perhaps she would have been more successful in simply sharing an English translation of her favorite diary entries from Marina Raskova and co., maybe even followed by commentary of why she loved it so much combined with her own experience as a pilot herself. At least then, the young adult reader is brought closer to the ethos and pathos of both these women and of Wein一 especially because the women Wein writes about are young adults themselves. This feels like a summary I did not ask for, for a story I never knew I wanted. Elizabeth Wein's A Thousand Sisters at worst leaves readers with an overwhelming yet unmemorable experience about a thousand, inspiring, yet overlooked airwomen in history. At best it serves as a good cross-reference with its dense information, chronological order, and appropriately packed index/reference list. 

Biography: 

Elizabeth E. Wein is the author of A Thousand Sisters. She stated that writing A Thousand Sisters was her biggest struggle because many of the primary sources were in Russian, and she does not know how to read Russian. She is an American-Born writer who then became an American-British citizen after obtaining her British citizenship. She is best known for her young adult historical fiction. She attended Yale University then she went on to get her Ph.D. in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania. She wrote her first novel at age 11. Her first five books were versions of King Arthur's stories. Due to her love of airplanes, she is the holder of a private pilot's license, and she owns about a thousand maps. She is known for her historical fiction about young women flying in World War II, including the New York Times bestselling Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. In 2012 novel Code Novel Verity was awarded an Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and it was designated a Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book in 2013. She has won two major awards, which are the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and the Golden Kite Award for Fiction. Finally, most recently in 2017, she released a middle-grade novel titled Cobalt Squadron, which is set in the Star Wars universe, and it is connected to The Last Jedi and Black Dove, White Rave, and she won the Children's Africana Book Award. 

Instructional Resources:

1. Anne Noggle’s Photographs of World War II Women Pilots

A small collection of photographs of some of the women who served as pilots during World War II; could be used during teaching as a visual aid to allow students to put faces to the names of these women. 

2. Interview with Author Elizabeth Wein

Interview with Elizabeth Wein where she discusses her book and research. This interview could be played in class, as it provides some insight into how the author wrote her book and also discusses some of her other books for those who might be interested in reading more of her work.

3. The First Woman to Attain a Pilot’s License

This article provides a brief background on the life and accomplishments of Lydia Zvereva, who is mentioned in A Thousand Sisters in passing as the first woman in Russia to have attained a pilot’s license. This is a simple, helpful source for students to learn a little bit more about the woman who preceded Marina Raskova and paved the way forward.

4. The Soviet Union

This brief video could be played as part of introducing the book to summarize what the Soviet Union was and help students better understand and frame the historical facts of the book. 

5. World War II

A multi-sectioned article covering the background and origins of World War II that includes links to further reading, pictures, and videos. This source could be given to students to read prior to reading the book in order to ensure they are well-versed in the history of the time.  

6. The Last Female Pilot of World War II

While a very short video, and not specifically about Soviet female pilot, this would be a good resource to share in class to allow students to hear, even briefly, what it was like to be an airwoman of World War II from a woman who was one herself. Though Mary Ellis has since passed, at the time the video was shot, she was the last one that still remained, making the video all the more important and exclusive. 

7. Raymonde De Laroche: The First Female Pilot

This article provides a quick summary about Raymonde De Laroche, a French woman who was the first woman in history to ever pilot an aircraft. This is a good source to give to students to learn about the trailblazer of female pilot’s herself, especially as she remained determined throughout her life to fly, even after having crash-landed and having been badly injured multiple times. As a result of her perseverance, she will forever hold the title as the world’s first ever female pilot and have paved the way for generations of women to come.

8. Photographs of Ten Female Soviet Union Pilots

A list of ten of the most skilled Soviet female pilots that includes a photo of them each. Not only does this add to the names already mentioned in A Thousand Sisters, but it also opens the door for further research and learning. This source could potentially be the starting place for an assignment where students could pick one of the women listed here to research and write about. 

Instructional Activity:

Preview:

    The purpose of this lesson is to utilize the information gained from A Thousand Sisters regarding gender equality and human rights and translate this using narrative and other creative writing elements. Students will choose a character from the book and write a first-person narrative regarding their reactions to gender inequality and one action they took to change it.

      The narrative is based on the book, which provides some information on actions taken to fight against inequality, but students will develop more personal accounts by imagining their character’s reactions and actively thinking about what it must have been like to be one of these women during this time. The assignment will be one page long and focus on a singular event of the student’s choosing, though it must focus on some inequality and steps this character did or could have taken to change this.

      In the next class meeting, students will bring their one-pagers and as a class, we will do an activity where students will take their papers and fold them into paper airplanes, in recognition of these women in the airforce. There will be a flying contest, where the plane that goes the farthest will win a prize. The instructor will also give a prize to the plane that went the least far and iterate that only those who seem to go the farthest get the prize they have been working for. In reality, everyone has been working toward the same goal but only some get the prize. Everyone deserves the prize because they all worked hard to achieve it. Fighting for human rights is the same. Everyone deserves them but many people fight for them and do not get the rights they seek. It’s important to recognize the people who came before us and paved the way for us to continue fighting and receive some of the rights they never saw. The instructor will then give prizes to the rest of the class. 

California Common Core Standards:

Writing Standards (9th-10th)

3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

 a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

Resources and Preparation:

Paper Airplane Examples:

 

Origami Way

https://www.origamiway.com/paper-airplanes.shtml

Instructors can use this website as a reference for a variety of types of airplanes. The instructions on the site can be followed directly or the instructor can take a few examples from this site and create their own instructions/demonstrations in class. 

Fig. 1. Dart from "How to Make a Paper Airplane:
 Easy Steps with Pictures;" origamiway.com
https://www.origamiway.com/plane-dart.shtml

Fig. 2. Spy Plane from "How to Make a Paper Airplane:
Easy Steps with Pictures;" origamiway.com
 https://www.origamiway.com/plane-spy-plane.shtml

Fig. 3. Nakamura from "How to Make a Paper Airplane:
Easy Steps with Pictures;" origamiway.com
https://www.origamiway.com/plane-nakamura-lock.shtml

Instructional Plan:

1. Pick a character from the novel (remember, you will be writing from their perspective)

2. Find a moment in the text where your character experiences gender inequality (prevented from joining a group, doing a specific action, or receiving the same rights offered to men; can also include negative reactions from others)

3. Find a moment where they react against or combat the inequality (whether they are successful or not)

4. Write a one-page narrative as your character reacting to the inequality experienced and what was done to combat it (this is written in the first-person point of view; use the book as a reference but be creative as you explain how your character felt and why it’s important that they reacted the way they did)

5. Bring in one-pagers to class

6. Paper airplane contest! 

Bibliography

Figures 1, 2, & 3:

Cabodbod, Alliah. “How to Make Paper Airplanes?” How to Make a Paper Airplane: Easy Steps with Pictures, www.origamiway.com/paper-airplanes.shtml. Accessed 14 May 2023. 

Author Image:

Hub, Author The. “One Thing Leads to Another: An Interview with Elizabeth Wein.” The Hub, 26 Mar. 2021, www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/10/03/one-thing-leads-to-another-an-interview-with-elizabeth-wein/.

Other Sources

" Something about the Author. . Encyclopedia.Com. 5 May. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.Com, 15 May 2023, www.encyclopedia.com/children/scholarly-magazines/wein-elizabeth-eve-1964.

Wein, Elizabeth. A Thousand Sisters (p. ii). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.