Girls Fly!

Using a conversation with her brothers as a springboard Charlene documents the aeronautical achievements of women. When she's asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she replies, "I'm going to be a pilot. I'm going to fly an airplane!" This reply , since brothers will be brothers, brings forth a bit of mirthful disbelief. Charlene stands her ground announcing that girls can do anything boys can do - including being a pilot. She reinforces her stance by informing them that women have been flying airplanes almost as long as men have, and that years before the Wright brothers' first flight "Leila Marie Cody flew in a kite." Charlene has done her research well. She further informs them that the first African-American licensed to fly was a woman, recounts the achievements of Amelia Earhart, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and more. Rosalie M. Shepherd's full page sun-washed illustrations represent the vastness of the sky with her closing painting set on a sunny yellow background serving as a happy reminder that "Girls can be anything they want to be." - Gail Cooke

Collaboratively written by Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly, Girls Fly! is the story of Charlene, a young girl who dreams of flying an airplane. When Charlene's brothers scoff at the idea, she teaches them about real women of history who helped pioneer and celebrate flight -- such as Leila Marie Cody who flew in a kite years before the Wright brothers flew their plane at Kittyhawk, and Helen Richey who piloted a Ford Trimotor commercial passenger airplane in 1934). Warmly illustrated by Rosalie M. Shepherd, Girls Fly! has a singularly uplifting and timeless message -- all young women everywhere can achieve their dreams.