Lady Flyer by Heather B. Moore - ADVISABLE

Lady Flyer by Heather B. Moore, 416 pages. Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2024. $28.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Nancy Harkness fell in love with flying at a young age and got her pilot’s license when she was 16 years old. A few years later, she became the 54th woman in the United States of America to have a commercial pilot’s license, and Nancy continued to work hard for a career in aviation. When WWII started, Nancy passionately started lobbying for female pilots to help with flying jobs in America to free up the men to go to war, but opposition arose at every step.

With our modern-day freedoms, it’s easy to forget that we stand upon the shoulders of people like Harkness who fought for equality. It is also fascinating to see how these pilot pieces fit into the history of WWII and shaped our ability to win that war. I never knew that these pieces were part of the puzzle, but Harkness and those who worked with her were key players. The story is bittersweet with all the losses felt even amidst the celebration of the end of the war, and the happy ending comes when we recognize that the reality of women in the workforce today, especially in regard to aviation, owes credit to Harkness’s determination.

Nancy is depicted as White on the cover, and the majority of characters are implied White. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, innuendo, and mentions of sexual harassment. The violence rating is for death and for mentions of war and suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen