Fly Girls, Keith OBrien
Fly Girls, Keith OBrien
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Fly Girls
How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers Edition)

Author: Keith O'Brien

Narrator: Erin Bennett

Unabridged: 5 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/26/2019

Synopsis

The untold story of five women who fought to compete against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s - and won Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Well, the men were hailed. Female pilots were more often ridiculed than praised for what the press portrayed as silly efforts to horn in on a manly, and deadly, pursuit. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky. O'Brien weaves together the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high-school dropout who worked for a dry cleaner in Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at the constraints of her blue-blood family's expectations; and Louise Thaden, the mother of two young kids who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men - and in 1936 one of them would triumph in the toughest race of all. Like Hidden Figures and Girls of Atomic City, Fly Girls celebrates a little-known slice of history in which tenacious, trail-blazing women braved all obstacles to achieve greatness.

About Keith O'Brien

Keith O’Brien is an award-winning journalist. His work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, Slate, and on NPR. He is the author of Outside Shot, a book chronicling the power and meaning of basketball in rural Kentucky.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie on October 29, 2018

4.5 stars I love reading about the female aviators in the early days of aviation who were so brave and faced so many obstacles in attempting to show that females were as fully capable at flying as the men. Without these female pioneers it would have taken even longer to have female pilots in the mili......more

Goodreads review by Valerity (Val) on August 06, 2018

I really enjoyed this book about the world of flying during the 1920’s and 30’s in America and how women pilots were at such a disadvantage compared to the men. Flying really grew during that period, with so many more pilots being licensed and planes being built than before. Mostly male pilots, but......more

Goodreads review by Jean on August 23, 2018

I enjoyed reading this book about five women pioneers of aviation. They are as follows: Louise McPhetridge Thaden (1905-1979) first female to win the Bendix Trophy. Ruth Rowland Nichols (1901-1960) held simultaneous world records for speed, altitude and distance. Ruth Elder (1902-1977) was an actres......more

Goodreads review by Ed on August 17, 2019

I liked reading this colorful, engrossing account of the early women aviators. Amelia Earhart is the only one of them who is still remembered. They often clashed with the men aviators. Having worked in the aerospace industry, I liked their different stories of flying and airplanes. One thing standin......more

Goodreads review by Karen on August 04, 2019

A great history of the early years of women aviators and their quest for validity in a misogynistic era. It was exceptionally well researched, but so many story lines detracted, for me, from the whole pleasure of reading. This is once again, an author trying to do too much in one book.......more

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