Fly Girls

Fly Girls

YA/adult herstory
"It had been just nine years since American women had won the
right to vote, and a lot of men were struggling to understand these
new women. They complained about their short skirts and their short
hair, their divorces (too many) and their marriage vows (all wrong).
At weddings, brides were no longer required to promise to "obey" their
husbands. That bothered some men. It threatened them too. But
nothing was more threatening than a woman who could fly an airplane--a
machine that had been invented by men, for men."
In 1926, mere decades after the Wright brothers had proved
motorized flight possible, most people were afraid to fly. The
fledgling aviation industry, in order to survive and possibly even
grow, had to capture the public's attention and make the prospect of
flight alluring. Air races gave regular people a chance to share in
exciting events and see planes with their own eyes.
Of course the races were quite dangerous. Pilots often died. A
lot of people believed women shouldn't be allowed to participate or
even to fly. This prejudice didn't deter a cadre of women determined
to prove their competence. Keith O'Brien's Fly Girls introduces
readers to five of these daring women and follows their exploits over
the course of a tumultuous and intense ten years. It also portrays
how the world adapted very slowly to their achievements, more often
than not throwing formidable obstacles in their way.
"In the decades to follow only one of these five women--Amelia
Earhart--would be remembered. But for a few years, before each of the
women went missing in her own way, these female pilots captivated a
nation, hoping to beat one another and longing to beat the men. At
times, a hundred thousand people swarmed dusty air fields to watch
them compete, darting through the sky in their colorful planes--
robin's egg blue and pale orchid, scarlet red and gleaming white--and
racing, an impossible tale played out in a deadly sky."
If you're anything like me, it's a tale you won't want to miss
out on.
On a purrrsonal note, last Thursday the part of Maine I live in lucked
out. We did get the torrential downpours that werevpredicted. But
the wind didn't live up to the hype. It did in other parts of the
state, blowing down trees and knocking out power to well over 100,000
homes.
My weekend was the Saturday brunch shift and studying and writing a
paper. I'm really looking forward to class tonight. Christina and I
have our turn to lead a 45 minute activity. We'll be graded on
whether our classmates are engaged. They will be. If drag doesn't
engage them I don't know what I will.
A great big shout out goes out to Christina whom I really enjoy
working with and to the best little cat in the world.
jules hathaway



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