Based on the 2013 picture book by author and illustrator Meghan McCarthy, this iconographic-animated adaptation features narration by Susie Berneis and very little music but some sound effects such as whirling propellers and men's laughter. Acrobatics pilot and land speed record holder Betty Skelton (1926-2011) is the subject of this biographical profile that finds young Betty playing with toy planes—not dolls—during the early 1930s, as military pilots fly overhead at her home in Pensacola, FL. At age 8, Skelton would send letters to plane companies, by 12 she was flying solo (even though it was illegal), and at the age of 16 she obtained her pilot's license. Although Skelton wanted to fly in the Navy—since only men were commercial pilots—she instead took to stunt work, flying with her dog beside her, and even barefoot, eventually getting her own “Li'l Stinker” plane (“I didn't just sit in that little airplane…I wore it.”). Weary of the prejudice that women faced in the profession, Skelton retired in the 1950s to enter the fast lane of racecar driving, as well as dabbling in boat jumping, and even training with the Mercury Seven astronaut crew. A spirited portrait of a woman who “just like(d) to go fast,” this is recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)
Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton
(2014) 11 min. DVD: $38.99. Dreamscape Media. PPR. Closed captioned. ISBN: 978-1-63379-133-6. Volume 30, Issue 3
Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton
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