Gypsies of the Air (The Girl Flyers Series, Book 1 of 2)

This book is the first of a two-book series that I have heard about for many years, but which I had never had any real interest in picking up.  I know there was discussion about the real identity of the author (as the name Bess Moyer is considered a pseudonym, like so many others used for children's books back in the day); but I'm unaware of anyone actually uncovering Moyer's true identity, although there has certainly been speculation.  Nevertheless, when I happened across this book at Atlanta Vintage Books last year, I decided to pick it up.  Since the series only consists of two books (which is surprising, since most series of that time at least managed to open up with three books - even the short-lived Madge Sterling series had three books!), I figured they should be easy reads.  After all, they were published by Goldsmith and consisted of only 110 pages of story (similar to the Madge Sterling books, also published by Goldsmith).

Gypsies of the Air is the first of the Girl Flyers series.  As described on the inside front flap of the dust jacket, the series is about Terry and Prim, "two high spirited and adventurous girls, who have been taught to fly by their father."  Their father, Dick Mapes, was proud of his daughters and encouraged their flying, but their mother, Alice Mapes, was not quite so thrilled about their adventures in the sky.  Fortunately for her, though, Terry was the truly adventurous one, dedicating her life to learning all she could about airplanes and flying, while her sister, Prim, who did learn to fly a plane, was more than happy to stay on the ground.  Sort of like George and Bess (and you KNOW who they are!), the girls are described in the book as opposites - Terry is "tall for her age, slightly built, high-strung, and nervous, while Prim was inclined to be plump and rosy" (p. 17).  It is said that Prim "was easy-going, practical and diplomatic.  She could get along with any one, while Terry with her quick tongue was always getting into trouble and making enemies" (p. 17).  Yet, despite all of these differences, the two sisters are the best of chums.

The story centers around the disappearance of Allan and Sydney, two young men who Dick Mapes is teaching to fly.  They head off in a plane to fly across the Atlantic, but they disappear before their planned stop in Newfoundland.  Terry convince her father to let her and Prim go off in search of them, and the story takes off (no pun intended!) from that point.  The girls locate a downed plane, but it turns out to be one that was taken by their father's right-hand man, Bud, who had said he was heading down to Florida.  Why was his plane up North?  And why was Bud nowhere to be found?  The girls soon find the answers to that, and those answers lead them into a whole heap of trouble!  Joe Arnold, who is a neighbor and Dick Mapes' biggest competition, is willing to do anything necessary to put the girls' father out of business and take over the land Mapes' currently leases.  That includes kidnapping Allan and Sydney, and now Terry and Prim!  But the girls find aid in a newfound friend, a young girl named Alice, who is instrumental in helping them escape and rescue the two young men.

Despite how short the story is compared with most children's mysteries of the time (this book being published in 1932), it is actually rather engaging.  The descriptions are not necessarily as flowery as other series books, and the action moves along at a much quicker pace - but it makes for a quick, easy read that is, ultimately, enjoyable.  Terry is definitely the more quirky of the two sisters, and her character gets fleshed out considerable more than poor Prim.  Prim's purpose seems to be for no other reason than to keep her sister in check.  We do get some backstory on their father, Dick, who is confined to a wheelchair due to an injury sustained in a plane crash (which they suspect was a result of sabotage by Arnold), but we see very little of the girls' mother.  Allan and Sydney are the "gentlemen in distress" for the book, because it is the girls who have to save them, not the other way around as is usually the case.  It's a nice gender flip to see the girls presented as the stronger characters, not needing the men to bail them out. 

What is surprising is how the story ends - with the girls rescuing the boys, leaving Arnold and his cohort in crime believed to have crashed into the sea in a swirl of fog, lost to the waters below.  Not many children's series books end with the crooks believed to be dead!  But, of course, it doesn't come right and say they crashed and died, so it does leave it open for them to return...

 

Part of the story takes place in Harbor Grace, which is an actual town in Newfoundland.  Information found online indicates the town has roots going back all the way to the 16th century, making it one of the oldest towns in North America!  The town currently has a population of less than 3,000 people, so who knows what the population would have been 90-plus years ago.  In the story, the girls also travel down to a place called "Fish Cove" - and it turns out that is a real place as well, located in Newfoundland.  Thus, either the author was familiar with that area, or he/she did some research to integrate actual places into the story (to ground it somewhat in reality - again, no pun intended).

The cover for the book is not a very thrilling scene, showing Terry and Prim simply cooking over a fire next to their plane. This scene takes place just after they locate Bud's plan (p. 48) and does not portray any of the dangerous situations in which the girls find themselves over the course of the story.  Odd they did not pick a more "mysterious" scene than this.  The art is provided by "F. Rigney," who provided art for other books published by Goldsmith, including, but likely not limited to, the Madge Sterling series and a sports book titled His Olympic Feat.  Rigney also provided the cover art for the second book in this series as well (which, by the way, is mentioned on the last page of the story, nicely integrated into a sentence for readers to know the title of what was being offered next!).

While not exactly the best example of series book writing from the era, the story is enjoyable, and I'd recommend it for anyone wanting a fast read.

RATING:  8 jaunty flying suits out of 10 for giving girl aviators a chance to shine in their own little mystery - and ensuring they were the strong heroes of their own story!