My undergrad degree is in American history and I was thrilled to learn more about women’s little known impact on this era of our past. Engagingly told through the stories of five gutsy women ... including Amelia Earhart, who, surprisingly, was not the best pilot. Left me cheering!

Thanks to the author, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#FlyGirls #NetGalley

I loved this book! It was so interesting to learn about all the women that contributed to aviation. Amelia Earhart is the most famous woman pilot, but there were so many more. I really admired their courage and tenacity at a time when there was so many factors working against them. This book is mostly about women pilots, but it was also very interesting to learn about all the men pilots. It is amazing how all the pilots kept flying even though so many of the planes crashed causing great injury or even death.

I HIGHLY recommend this book! It is fantastic! I hope the author continues to write stories about other historical figures. He is a brilliant author!

In a time when most women were expected to stay at home and take care of the kids, some women defied expectations and set out to conquer the skies. Fighting societal expectations, pressure from family and strangers, and overwhelming odds, they struggled to find sponsors and planes in order to compete with the men. It was no easy thing to be a successful flyer even if you were male; many popular pilots were injured or killed by accidents and mechanical failures. And the women were often banned from even entering the competitions, or else they were made into a sideshow or segregated into a Powder Puff Derby situation.

Despite all the obstacles and odds against them, the women featured in this book did not give up. They managed to set records, beat men, and find their way into history. The name most people will recognize is Amelia Earhart, but she was not the only aviatrix of her day, or even the most skilled. Read Fly Girls and find out about the others, and how they all competed with each other and the men, but also formed friendships that lasted throughout their lives. This is a great piece of nonfiction writing, full of quotes from the women and details about their lives, hopes, and dreams.

If you enjoy history, learning about strong women who go after what they believe in, or aviation in general - you need to read this book.

As a licensed private pilot and a fan of aviation history, I found this book fascinating. I enjoyed learning more about the female aviation pioneers who worked twice as hard for half the glory. They sacrificed a lot (including their lives) in order to gain the respect of the world. I know women that race in the powder puff derby every year and it is cool that they are carrying on the dream. My only fault with the book is that it is a little dry and sometimes hard to keep track of the timeline because it jumps back and forth a bit. Still, that does not take away from the interesting history that it shares with the reader. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

O’Brien, Keith. Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.

In Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History, Keith O'Brien reminds the reader that only one of the names of the women he profiles will be familiar: Amelia Earhart. Even then, Earhart is known more for his defeat by than her conquest of the air. The "friendly sky" described by modern commercial airlines is in reality a jealous mistress: aviators that do not give her total attention or fail to decipher the roles that changing conditions play on flight patterns and aircraft will not enjoy her company very long. The race to tame the sky claimed many lives. both male and female.

One of the most poignant episodes in the book comes when an interviewer asks Earhart why she wants to fly. "Why do men ride horses?" she replies. She seems stunned by the idea that women could not share the thirst of adventure felt by men. By the end of the chapter, Earhart's contribution to that flight would be reduced to that of ballast, with several male aviators claiming it would have been better if she had been left behind and two hundred gallons of fuel loaded in her place. Aviator instruction and training for men and women were the same: they had to complete the same education and tasks to earn flying licenses. Flying while female, however, was often seen as a bigger liability than flying while intoxicated. The various commercial schemes women undertook to be able to get in the cockpit also made them appear to be more interested in fame and fortune than in flying.

Fly Girls lends new lyrics to a familiar tune. As women's history gains readers and with them, profitability, we can expect to see many more histories of forgotten women in male-dominated spaces. Women made important contributions to early aviation and would continue to make contributions as pilots, mechanics, and engineers during the world wars. They laid the groundwork for pilots like Tammie Jo Shultz, the former Navy fighter pilot who landed a Southwest plane after it lost one of its engines after takeoff earlier this year. O'Brien's book also reminds us that for every Shultz and Earhart, there are thousands of female pilots who never make it into the papers.

Kate Murphy Schaefer, June 2018

In Fly Girls, Keith O'Brien tells the story of the world of aviation in the 1920s and 30s years and the dangers it held while focusing on five female pilots who worked to put a crack in the glass ceiling. What makes this book special is that all of those facts were put together to read like a captivating story.

O'Brien gives readers the backgrounds on each of these women and how they wound up with a love of flight. But every story needs an antagonist. In this story, Cliff Henderson assumes that role. Henderson was a successful promoter of the national air races – a race where the women wanted equal access and treatment. Fly Girls follows the races as well as other aviation records that the women pursued over the years starting.

The history of aeronautics is as fascinating as the history of women's rights. Planes were dangerous at times and not enclosed, so warm layers and goggles were necessary. Air races were as popular as NASCAR. And given that you can now fly from Los Angeles to New York in a touch over 5 hours, it is hard to imagine a time when that same flight took 19 hours if a pilot undertook doing it nonstop. Even transatlantic travel required a stop in Newfoundland.

In terms of the rights of these pilots, they had to fight for equal treatment and people were always looking for some reason to blame the pilot instead of the airplane when they were involved. Men didn't want them in their races, didn't want them in their territory. The women had to tread lightly, but they organized and worked together to achieve parity.

O'Brien has crafted a readable and exciting book about the adventure, tragedy, and determination faced by pilots, male and female, during the 20s and 30s. If you liked Boys in the Boat or Unbroken, you will love Fly Girls.

A brilliantly descriptive and well researched history of women in aviation between the world wars. The facts are presented in an easily digestible way, even for an aviation hobbyist like me, While the author focuses on five women, they are not presented as outliers or exceptions that prove the rule that flying was an old boys club. A fact borne out by the huge number of far more experienced female pilots in ATA during WWII. Fascinating if a tad impersonal at times.

This is a time period and subject near and dear to my heart and the author does not disappoint. This well written and well researched account of the early women of aviation manages the stories of multiple fliers, events, and backstories with skill. I never felt confused or left behind, but nothing less than engaged and eager for more.

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 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.