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    Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers Edition)
    Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers Edition)
    Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers Edition)
    Audiobook5 hours

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

    Written by Keith O'Brien

    Narrated by Erin Bennett

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 26, 2019
    ISBN9781980031963
    Author

    Keith O'Brien

    Keith O’Brien is journalist who has written for the New York Times and Politico and he’s a longtime contributor to National Public Radio. His work has appeared on shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life. He is a former staff writer for the Boston Globe and the author of Outside Shot: Big Dreams, Hard Times, and One County’s Quest for Basketball Greatness. He lives in New Hampshire.  

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    Reviews for Fly Girls

    4/5

    87 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A fascinating look at some of the woman who were the first to pilot planes. Before I read this book I had no idea that aviation races played a big role in the history of aviation, nor who the women were (besides Amelia Earnhardt) who defied tradition and took to the skies. They faced criticism from their families and communities, and often found it hard to raise the funds to obtain airplanes and other equipment. Not to mention leaving families behind to pursue their dreams. But these woman persisted anyway, risking their lives to set records and prove that they were just as air-worthy as men - despite having female parts and even periods. I highly recommend this to those who love history books, especially those that bring woman's stories to the forefront.
    • 4/5
      This true history reads almost like a novel, and O'Brien has a fine eye for the details that bring these individual women alive on the page. Maybe that's why this book broke my heart a bit. (A spoiler here: we all know that Amelia Earhart dies. All but one of the other four women die in ways that are either similarly violent or quieter tragedies.) The four other women he follows are Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Elder, Ruth Nichols, and Louise Thaden. Although they hail from different parts of the US and disparate economic situations, each woman faces the challenge of trying to be taken seriously as a pilot in an age when men were making statements like "If women spent more time making homes pleasant and less time trying to get men's jobs there would be less domestic trouble ... The world would be happier" and "Our experience has disclosed the fact that most women have insufficient mechanical ability and little desire to observe and learn." Arg.Unsentimentally engaging and well researched, this book is for readers of Hidden Figures and anyone who wants to learn more about the 1930s and recovered women's histories. One of my favorite lines is the one O'Brien puts on the frontispiece, from Louise Thaden: "If you will tell me why, or how, people fall in love, I will tell you why, or how, I happened to take up aviation."
    • 4/5
      Even though I typically stick to Sci-Fi/Fantasy-type reads, I do have eclectic taste, and when I venture out into the wild west of historical nonfiction, I typically really enjoy stories of women defying the odds and making gains in society.I really liked how this book followed many well-known (and some not-as-well-known) female aviators from the 1920s and 1930s. Yes, Amelia Earhart was included (and, to be honest, the only name that rung any sort of bell for me...), but she was not alone. There were so many surprising stories in this book, and I really liked learning about this important period of women's rights.For similar, yet different, books about women's important roles in the shaping of our history, I would also recommend similar books such as Hidden Figures, The Radium Girls, The Woman who Smashed Codes, and The Woman's Hour, all of which were similarly fascinating and fantastic reads.Thank you to LibraryThing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      What a great job O'Brien does in describing the women aviators of the 1920s to 1950s. Amelia Earhart was, of course, the star though in comparison to some of the others, it's hard to know why. At first, the star was Ruth Nichols, a pretty girl from a rich family. Then there were Louise Thaden, Ruth Elder, and Florence Klingensmith - such impressive women! As with all other occupations, these women were disregarded and hindered from advancement at every turn. They were mocked, and it was likely their planes were sabotaged. If they crashed in inferior planes they were consistently blamed, yet men who did the same were honored. If they got lost, which was a regular occurrence in early aviation, it was because they were silly, easily distractable women. When men pilots got lost, it was unfortunate. I don't know how they managed to carry on against such disdain, but they loved to fly. The book is both inspirational and infuriating. Once again we see the personal damage done to people who fight against stereotypes.
    • 4/5
      I love non-fiction books that introduce us to unknown people in history who should be better known. Other than Amelia Earhart I had no idea that women were a part of early aviation.
    • 4/5
      If all you know of early aviation is the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart, this is a fascinating book. The author tells the story of the history and rivalries of the men and women who risked their lives to push the development of aeronautics forward in the early 20th century in a style that's approachable and engaging. The book tells the tale from the point of view of the women, who were often sidelined by the men who controlled the races that brought fame and fortune to early fliers. While covering many early aviators it focuses on five particular women, and only disappoints at the end - when the author, surprisingly, resorts to the tired trope of reviewing the lives of the five only to conclude that the only female flyer to find happiness and peace was the one who ultimately gave up flying to be a devoted mother to her children.
    • 4/5
      This is a fascinating history/biography of the women who pioneered aviation in the 20s, 30s and beyond. Yes, Amelia Earhart is here, but the women whose names are not generally known are as fascinating and led lives equally daring as Earhart did. O'Brien also manages to describe the growth of the aircraft industry, or at least of the companies who pioneered the development of airplanes and their relationship to the female fliers.
    • 2/5
      During the Great Depression, the air racing and breaking air records took the world by storm as it garnered popularity and seized the imagination. An extremely dangerous sport, many died as they pushed airplanes to the limit. A handful of women fought to be recognized along their male counterparts as pilots and competitors. This book follows a number of these women.This book was a bit slow at times. It seemed to cover many more people than the five listed. I had to read the back cover to see who the five where, as the book didn't show any consistency with the women it was featuring. The book continually seemed to get bogged down with details of others. Only two of the five women featured were well covered and well hashed out. It didn't feel as if the author was able to do much more than recite facts previously published. Overall, a bust.
    • 4/5
      Loved this nonfiction account of women aviators in the ‘20s. There was such camaraderie between the women. Such good sportsmanship when they were competing and friendship that developed because they were the only ones who understood each other‘s passion for flying. They were all fighting an uphill battle against prejudice both in the media and general public against women flying. One particularly beautiful aviator was killed in a crash and one of the main complaints was that she shouldn’t have been flying because she should’ve been reproducing since she was so beautiful. It’s heartbreaking that they were treated so badly.
    • 4/5
      I learned so much from this book. Transcontinental air races! Powder puff derbies! Crashes, crashes and more crashes! The early aviators were unimaginably brave. The women aviators not only took on the dangers of flight in flimsy aircraft, but they also suffered the indignity of discriminatory treatment, up to and including sabotage, in order to fly. The revelations about the open disparagement of women in this book are more shocking than they should be. The fact that we know nothing about these aviators (with the exception of Amelia Earhart's failed trip around the world) is also shocking.Told in a matter-of-fact historical way with little embellishment, this book is a powerful narrative about the courage and perseverance of women aviators in the decade 1927-1937.
    • 4/5
      A fascinating history of the female aviation pioneers. Yes, Amelia Earhart is there, but so are several others, and the struggle was real. Parts are very sad (many crashes), and parts are very aggravating. I don't know that I realized how chauvinistic the men could be then (okay, maybe now too). Women aren't constitutionally able to fly an airplane, no woman was allowed to fly a plane when she was on her period--when men crashed, they were lauded. When women crashed, they were ridiculed. The injustice really made me angry, but not with the book. The stories are told well, and are nicely read by Erin Bennett on the audio CD. You know it's a good book when it sends you to Google to find out more about these women!
    • 5/5
      Fly Girls is a thoroughly absorbing account of early female aviators in the 1920s and 30s including Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols, Florence Klingensmith, and Louise Thaden.Well narrated by Erin Bennett, the story focuses on the women's battle to be able to fly in air races against men, and highlights their struggles against popular perceptions of what women could and couldn't do. This is nonfiction as compelling as fiction. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      When you talk about women in aviation, everyone knows about Amelia Earhart and probably also Beryl Markham. However, these women are but two of scores of women who took to the skis in the years between World War I and II.This book follows the careers of Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Elder, Ruth Nichols and Louise Thaden as well as Earhart as they struggled against misogyny and the outmoded perceptions of what a woman's role in society should be until two of them managed to grab the biggest aviation prize of the day: The Bendix Cup.his book is sn excellent addition to the stores of women overcoming great odds to live life to the fullest.
    • 5/5
      The decade between the mid-1920's and the mid-1930's has often been called the Golden Age of aviation. Starting with Charles Lindbergh's vaunted flight across the Atlantic, the limits of aviation were put on display for the world to see. In Fly Girls, Keith O'Brien shines a much needed light on the many female pioneers and record makers of this golden age. While the world watch and cheered the men, the women made significant strides to simply be recognized as equals. The narrative of Fly Girls follows five women, each pioneers in aviation, who broke through the barriers and obstacles placed before them to compete on equal terms. These women sacrificed many things - even their lives - in pursuit of their goals, and by the end of the Golden Age, one of them would win the most coveted award in flying at that time. O'Brien's choice of the women he follows provides a cross-section of independence and determination to succeed in a male-dominate profession and sport. In the years following the suffrage movement, and the win allowing women the right to vote, many women strove to show that women were the equals of men. This included the fledgling field of aviation, which after the First World War, exploded in popularity. O'Brien's narrative follows Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols, and Louise Thaden as each struggles to set records, and fight the chauvinism inherent in early aviation. Of these five women (and the many others that O'Brien touches on in the book) I only knew about Amelia Earhart. Like most Americans she is the one that seems to fill the history books, even though she may have not been the most skilled of the pilots. She is remembered because she made the most headlines, but many of the others not only paved the way for Earhart, some were better pilots. O'Brien also does a wonderful job of not only showing the struggle the women faced to get even the least bit of recognition, but also highlights America's passion for all pilots at the time, who routinely pushed the edge of aviation and the limits of their skills and planes. Many men (and women) gave their lives in this pursuit, and O'Brien does a wonderful job of detailing the world of aviation during this Golden Age. Fly Girls is a informative, entertaining, and exciting read about the history of aviation and the very important role that women played in it. Keith O'Brien's narrative keeps your interest in the women's lives, as you struggle along with them in their pursuit of recognition as pilots. More than simply a book of historical facts and figures, we are let into the many personal aspects of the women and the men who either helped or hindered (sometimes both) their struggle for recognition. In the end I cheered along with the many spectators of the 1936 Bendix Air Race as a woman, competing equally with the men, won the most prestigious air race in the nation at that time.I highly recommend Fly Girls to any reader with an interest in history, including aviation history or the history for women's rights. I received an advance copy of the audio book edition of Fly Girls from the publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review. The audio book was narrated by Erin Bennett who did a wonderful job of bringing the past lives of so many people to life. The CDs I listened to had a minor issue of static and clicking on the audio tracks on the first CD, but all of the rest had no problems with the audio quality.
    • 4/5
      This was an interesting history of early aviation, focusing on the women aviators. I enjoyed learning some of the history of this period and how extra challenging it was for these women. The audio recording was well-done, although since there were many characters that the author bounced between, it was sometimes hard to keep track of which person was being discussed. I would recommend the book to people interested in aviation history.