The Flying Girl


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.4 stars; 33 reviews)

Frank L. Baum, author of the Oz books, delivers an engaging story for all ages. Orissa Kane works in order to provide for her family. Her mother is blind, while her brother devotes his time to his invention, a flying machine. Everything changes when he brakes his leg and Orissa decides to continue developing the machine. This fascinating and relatable book explores the early days of aviation, and the changing role of women. Frank L. Baum chose to publish this book under the name Edith Van Dime. - Summary by Stav Nisser. (4 hr 50 min)

Chapters

Foreword 2:23 Read by Diana Schmidt
Orissa 7:57 Read by Jason in Panama
A Disciple of Aviation 14:28 Read by Jason in Panama
The Kane Aircraft 10:08 Read by Marialuisa Ruiz
Mr. Burthon is Confidential 13:15 Read by realisticspeakers
Between Man and Man, and a Girl 12:19 Read by Marialuisa Ruiz
A Bucking Biplane 8:11 Read by Eli27
Something Wrong 12:01 Read by Eli27
Mr. Burthon’s Proposition 8:30 Read by Eli27
The Other Fellow 5:54 Read by Eli27
A Fresh Start 6:38 Read by Eli27
Orissa Resigns 9:45 Read by realisticspeakers
The Spying of Tot Tyler 10:37 Read by Jibchmarl
Sybil is Critical 10:13 Read by jcrosbie
The Flying Fever 12:40 Read by Christi Lupher
A Final Test 13:00 Read by Christi Lupher
The Opening Gun 9:43 Read by Christi Lupher
A Curious Accident 5:58 Read by Kalynda
The One to Blame 12:44 Read by Michael Fassio
Planning the Campaign 10:42 Read by Michael Fassio
Uncle and Niece 11:22 Read by Michael Fassio
Mr. H. Chesterton Radley-Todd 12:10 Read by Michael Fassio
The Flying Girl 13:15 Read by realisticspeakers
A Battle in the Air 13:38 Read by realisticspeakers
The Criminal 16:57 Read by Christi Lupher
The Real Heroine 11:18 Read by Christi Lupher
Of Course 14:50 Read by Christi Lupher

Reviews


(5 stars)

Fun story.... I recommended the book for those who want a relaxing read. Some of the readers were not that good but most did very well

Fun Story


(5 stars)

I enjoyed this book. Well read and a fun adventure by the author of The Wizard of Oz.

Intresting 🤔


(5 stars)

That Mr. Comburferd is hilarious 🤣.

Cute story!


(4 stars)

Liked the adventure and plot.


(4 stars)

A great story by Frank Baum. This glimpse into the infant world of aviation is just delightful. And I Love how "feminist" works like this can reveal exactly where our ancestors thoughts were on gender. I think we often look back on the past and perceive that society's inequalities must've been recognized as such by the people of the time and pursued anyway, and thus been "evil". But when you go back and discover little gems like this, suggesting that – gasp! – girls could actually pursue daring adventures just like boys, and do just as well at it if not better – you are reminded that the gender inequalities of the past were maintained because people didn't see them as invented, they saw them as an inherent part of the universe. And stories like this were written with this sense of amazed discovery that -- Wow! Look! Girls are capable of more than we thought! Isn't that wonderful? I really love that L. Frank Baum hid behind a female pen name for this book. Throughout history it had always been women who had to hide behind male pen names to get published. And I suspect there was a certain knowing awareness of that in his choice, although, presumably he felt a book about an “adventurous” girl would sell better if perceived to have been written by an “adventurous” woman (as any woman willing to “put herself out there” by writing and publishing was still somewhat perceived). I Also love the view of “aeroplanes” here when they were so, so, SO new. And I marvel that anyone ever survived that period where people blithely climbed into contraptions they had just cobbled together. The whole look at this infant stage of aviation is delightful. I might have been annoyed at the end by the protagonist’s extreme humility and desire only for her brother to gain glory – since he was male and she was female and that was only proper – but I was so well into the time period that I was able to sit back and enjoy this tale, written by a man for the purpose of insisting that women are amazing creatures who can achieve just as great things as men and might even be better suited for those things. And never fear! They’ll still be beautiful, kind, wonderful and feminine as they do it (and will get dinner on the table too!).