Following the life of newly-fifteen-year-old Beatty, a girl growing up near an airfield during the dustbowl era, Airfield is a good read for anyone interested in a coming of age tale, a tale about discovering one’s parent, and a historical look at the 1930s American small-scale airline industry.

Beatty lives with various family members, never staying too long in one place, while her father takes on inconsistent work for the airline. He never seems to want to talk about Beatty’s mother, even though Beatty hears rumors that she was a pilot. Worse, he does not want her up in the air.

Beatty and her family work hard, help who they can, and do what is needed. Beatty works for free, collecting only tips, as a way of proving herself useful to the airfield that is barely making ends meet. As a backdrop to this story, we see how passengers flew and were treated in the 1930s.

My favorite part about reading stories of the past is when I am drawn in to the small details of life so that I feel like I am there. Even small things, like watching characters struggle to find housing or food, makes me realize what an abundant time we live in, and it gives me a healthy dose of respect for the past.

This is a must read for young women, but anyone interested in pilots or airplanes would find it a quick read as well.