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Details
| Material Type: | Fiction, Juvenile audience |
|---|---|
| Document Type: | Book |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Sid Fleischman; Jos A Smith |
| ISBN: | 0688158307 9780688158309 |
| OCLC Number: | 40588524 |
| Description: | 144 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. |
| Responsibility: | Sid Fleischman ; illustrated by Jos A. Smith. |
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
Most girls would be upset if a gang of bandits rode in, but Annyrose sees it as an improvement. Locked in a barn since she tried to run away from the villainous 0. 0. Mary, Annyrose pleads with the bandit called "Wakeen" to let her go along with the gang. Thinking she's a boy, Wakeen agrees to take her -- provided she'll teach him to read so that he can find out what the gringo are saying about him on wanted posters and in the newspapers. Although Annyrose heartily disapproves of the gang's thievery and murder, she comes to realize that the bandits are only stealing what was taken from them when ruthless white settlers "wrote laws to pry off those with darker skins from the diggings." The message about bigotry forms the underpinnings of the book, but Fleischman couldn't write with a heavy hand if he tried. His rollicking humor (Annyrose and Wakeen are both surprised when they discover Wakeen's name is really spelled J-o-a-q-u-i-n), spicy writing style, and action-packed narrative make this a page-turner. Joaquin, of course, is the famous Mexican bandit Joaquin Murieta, and an afterword explains which parts of the story are true and which are fictionalized. Annyrose and Joaquin are equally likable, the setting is detailed and authentic, and the substantial story comes to a satisfying conclusion.--Susan Dove Lempke "Booklist"<p>It's the odd couple of California's Gold Rush -- a 12 year-old orpan in search of her brother (he's run off to dig for riches) and Joaquin Murietta, the Mexican bandit with a Robin Hood reputation. They ride together on their respective quests, the plot of this spirited novel twisting, turning and touching on problems of bigotry, racism and greed. --"San FranciscoExaminer & Chronicle, " November 1998 Read more...
