Fly Girls by P. O'Connell Pearson - OPTIONAL

Fly Girls: The Daring American Women Pilots Who Helped WinWWII by P. O’Connell Pearson, 191 pages.  NON-FICTION Simon and Schuster, 2018.  $17.  

Content: Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

When America joined World War II, the military had to boost the production of aircraft to help them win the war.  At the time, there were many women who were capable of piloting planes, but the government wouldn’t let them go to war.  The women pilots were still determined to help the war effort and helped in many ways to transport the planes, fly planes as target practice, and help test the planes after they had maintenance work done on them.  The fly girls faced discrimination, sexual harassment and weren’t officially recognized for their efforts, but their patriotism was fierce as they sacrificed, sometimes their lives, for the war effort.  

This book was actually frustrating to read-not because of the way it was written, but because of the powerless feelings it invoked.  The Fly Girls were strong and determined and although many people tried to shut them down, they still fought for what they believed in.  I also enjoyed this perspective of World War II, this branch of women who were rock stars.  The violence includes the death of a woman who is trapped in her plane and burns to death.  C. Peterson