"American Sky"

Carolyn Dasher grew up in a military family, which meant she lived in ten different places before she graduated from high school. It also meant that every 4th of July she got to climb around on tanks and helicopters and watch the Blue Angels buzz overhead in tight formation. When she learned about the WASP—amazing women who stepped up during World War II to serve their country, and, as soon as the war was over, were told to step right back down again and transfer their talent and energy to home and family life—she knew she had to write about them.

Dasher applied the Page 69 Test to American Sky, her first novel, and shared the following:

From page 69:

Yet here she was, stuck on a back road for another half hour while he drove her home.

“Aw, George. Don’t cry, now. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

If only she could make lightning come out of her eyes instead of tears. She wasn’t sad. She was furious. “Just take me home.” She put her face in her hands and didn’t look up until they reached her house. As soon as he braked, she bolted out of the car, not even bothering to slam the door shut behind her. She raced up the steps and into the house with a roar.

“George!” Adele tossed aside the latest issue of Popular Mechanics and rushed toward her. “Oh, honey, what is it?” George flung herself into her mother’s arms and sobbed.

Adele stroked her hair back from her forehead, the way she had when George was little. George wished she were little again so she could curl up in her mother’s lap.

“What happened? Did he . . .”

George snorted through her tears. Mel was a coward. Too cowardly to go up in her plane. Too cowardly to introduce her to his mother. Too cowardly to do more than kiss her, even though she’d given him every indication that he could.

“No. Nothing like that.” She sniffled and pulled away.

“Then what?”

“He asked me when I planned to stop flying.”

“He what?”

“He asked me when I thought I’d get it out of my system.”

Even though page 69 is mostly dialog, it gives readers a decent sense of the novel’s “aboutness.” Georgeanne (George) is a teenage girl who dreams of becoming an aviator. Unlike her best friend, Vivian, she’s fortunate that her family can afford flying lessons, and she’s just earned her pilot’s license. Leading up to page 69, her boyfriend dismisses her offer to take him up for a flight. (He’s also not as adventurous in the backseat as she’d like.) The boyfriend assumes flying is something George will “get out of her system.” Because flying planes isn’t something nice, normal girls do, especially in middle America in the early 20th century.

American Sky follows three generations of women who refuse to live life on nice, normal girl terms. They repair cars, fly planes, serve in combat zones, and more. The book is also about female friendship and family secrets, but readers will have to look beyond page 69 for that part of the story.

Visit Carolyn Dasher's website.

Q&A with Carolyn Dasher.

--Marshal Zeringue