Responsible Myra is one of six children living with her family in their busy Salt Lake City, Utah home. She helps her working parents care for her four younger siblings while attending her senior year of school and working at her own job. Life gets even more hectic when her pregnant sister moves back home from college and needs taking care of, too. When Myra's "perfect" boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she is thrown for a loop. Dazed, confused, and more than a little mad, Myra becomes bolder in life choices. Swearing to no longer be a doormat, she quits her job, and competes for a scholarship to study wildlife in the Galapogos islands. The stakes are high--if she wins, this could be the beginning of a bright future for Myra. If she loses, she just might be stuck in Utah forever.

Girls Don't Fly is an enjoyable speed read for teen girls featuring an immensely likable and smart main character. Writing a proposal for a scholarship to study science in the Galapagos helps Myra open up to new possibilities while becoming introspective about her own evolution. She realizes that she tries to please everyone at the expense of her own needs, and by the end of the story, Myra learns the importance of balancing her family's needs with her own. Myra's parents pressure her to give up on applying for the scholarship because her unmarried sister has a high-risk pregnancy and needs her, but eventually they realize that they were wrong to do so. Used to underestimating herself, a new love interest helps Myra see that she should never give up on herself, even when others may. Finally gaining confidence in her own value, Myra recognizes the flaws in her "perfect" ex-boyfriend and even confronts him for pressuring her sexually in the past. Language is infrequent (b-tch, b-obs, sl-t, h-ll, sh-t, a-s, b-tch). Readers will root for Myra as she bumps along the road to self-discovery and triumphs in the end.

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