Customer Reviews

A Girl Can Dream

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Betty Cavanna's A Girl Can Dream is one of my favorite books. It is about Loretta Larkin, a high school senior, who wins a writing contest and gets a chance to learn to be a pilot. She was inspired to fly by her brother Tony, who was a pilot in World War II. Not only does Rette learn to fly a plane, she learns that people, such as popular Elise Wynn and Jeff Chandler, are not always as different from her as they seem. The book was written in the 1940s, so some might call it "outdated", but the book deserves a chance since it has an entertaining and engaging storyline.

A GIRL CAN DREAM dates from the 1940s, and has a kind of charmingly anachronistic style that is endearing rather than annoying. I found this book on my Mother's bookshelf in the 1970s, and it was far better than I expected. This is the story of Loretta Larkin who, quite unexpectedly, wins First Prize in a High School writing contest, and (shockingly) becomes a student at a flying school.

I've often wondered if this book is semi-autobiographical. Author Betty Cavanna has a wonderful grasp of the poetry of flight, and is very familiar with the works of Saint-Exupery. I was introduced to WIND, SAND AND STARS his masterwork, through this book. Cavanna draws us portraits of competent, intelligent, ambitious young women, personified by Loretta and by Flight Instructor Pat Creatore, females who stare openmouthed when their contemporaries ask, "Are girls allowed to learn to fly?"

This is much less staid and far more open-minded (if not as lyric) as SEVENTEENTH SUMMER, a novel referenced in the story, and is a good book to read if a youngster wants to discover what it was like growing up as a girl in post-war America.