One Book, One Community Events at the Moorhead Public Library

The Moorhead Public Library is proud to be a partner of the One Book, One Community reading project, which centers on the community-wide reading of a single book and is dedicated to creating a shared conversation along with a range of related events and activities for residents of all ages.

This year’s selected title is Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History , the previously untold story of five remarkable women who competed against men in the high-stakes national air races of the 1920s and 1930s. The women – Florence Klingensmith, a high school dropout who worked for a dry cleaner in Fargo, North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama divorcee; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, who chafed at the constraints of her blue blood family’s expectations; and Louise Thaden, the mother of two young kids who got her start selling coal in Wichita – fought for the chance to fly and race airplanes – and in 1936, one of them would triumph, beating the men in the toughest air race of them all.

This year’s One Book, One Community reading project launches in September and features several events, including a community book discussion, film screenings, cultural exhibits and other engaging programs. The project will conclude with an author visit on Monday, Oct. 28. 

Events at the Moorhead Public Library:

“Breaking Through the Clouds” Film Screening
Saturday, October 12, 2019 from 2:00 – 4:00pm
Join us for a screening of “Breaking Through the Clouds: The First Women’s National Air Derby”. This film tells the inspiring true story of 20 female pilots, including Amelia Earhart, who defied convention by taking to the skies and racing across America in 1929. Facing cultural stereotypes, mechanical failures, threats of sabotage, navigational challenges and endless chicken dinners, the women were pioneering legends in aviation. This award-winning documentary is expertly researched, beautifully shot and filled with carefully restored footage of the derby, some of which has not been seen in over 80 years.

Did you love Fly Girls? Find related eBooks in our collection here.