March 2025: When Women Were Dragons, by Kelly Barnhill

We'll meet on zoom. The zoom link will be posted closer to event date. We'll chat for 15-20 minutes to start, then get into the book. Around 3:15, we'll vote for future books, so please bring suggestions. Captioning and/or ASL interpreting can be arranged by request.

From goodreads:
A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.

SDFBG currently costs the group moderator about $30/month to run, plus her time. It is free to attend, but if you would like to contribute monetarily, it would be appreciated. You can contribute directly through

Venmo: @Jessica-Cole-100
Paypal: paypal.me/SanDiegoFeminist
Shop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG