Book excerpt: EVERYONE IN HIGH SCHOOL WONDERED WHO WOULD WIN THE FREE FLYING LESSONS... ‘Tomboy’ Loretta Larkin excels in sports, but privately envies her popular blonde high school classmate, Elsie Wynn. When the new local airport announces an essay contest with flying lessons as the tempting prize, Rette decides to enter—and wins! She finds that learning to solo can be a way to not-soloing the prom. Betty Cavanna writes of teenagers with sure understanding of their inner lives and the high school scene. A Girl Can Dream was a Junior Literary Guild Selection. Before writing it Miss Cavanna herself took flying lessons and learned about ‘stalls’ and ‘spins’ from a flying instructor not unlike Pat Creatore.