What readers think of Fly Girls, plus links to write your own review.

I found "Fly Girls" to be a fascinating account of a little known time in the field of aviation. Other than Amelia Earhart, all the other female flyers were unknown to me, and the struggles they encountered continue to be relevant. This book brought not only their stories, but the story of aviation in general, to life for me. Very interesting book.

Female pilots in the 1920s and 1930s were referred to as "fly girls". The only female name I recognized was Amelia Earhart, who was famous for being the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean coupled with her disappearance in 1937. I learned about a number of females who flew in the Powder Puff Derby in 1929 and the determination it took to learn how to fly and compete in a man's world. These women came from all different backgrounds, I enjoyed learning about their lives. Since women were only given the right to vote in 1920, these "fly girls" were courageous and defied what society thought their roles should be.

I thought the book achieved just the right balance of history vs. storyline. I had read other books about some of the women aviators featured, and I felt this author did a particularly nice job of intertwining their stories into the history of aviation. I was struck by how "aviation madness" seemed to be sweeping the country during the major part of the time depicted. I thought that was interesting considering the economic woes at the time. Was the dream of flying and "getting away from it all" somehow tied up in the financial woes of the nation at this time?

When I read the note from the VP Editorial Director, I thought,"This is going to be a great book." Unfortunately, I didn't find it to be great. I wanted more about each woman instead of the secondary characters. I found myself putting the book down to read something else. It was a struggle for me to finish it.

I did not like the book. I never finished it because I felt there was too much background information and it was taking too long to get to the point. I am from Long Island so I didn't need to read all about Roosevelt field or the Garden City Hotel, places I have been to on many occasions.