(4) 4-6 History Mysteries series. In each book, a fatherless twelve-year-old uses her wits and courage to protect a sibling and solve a mystery: Rose Taylor risks being shot in Levi Frontier's Wild West Show in 1886, while Emily Scott spies on gang leaders in a 1925 Jersey Shore hotel. Both books are quick paced and exciting despite some underdeveloped characters. Each book ends with "A Peek into the Past." [Review covers these History Mysteries titles: Gangsters at the Grand Atlantic and Danger at the Wild West Show.]

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kasia Charko. A starstruck boy in an 1899 Yukon gold rush town blows his big opportunity to perform in a Wild West show but ends up using his fancy lassoing to stop a thief. Pure hokum, and the writing relies too heavily on clichés, but the energetic illustrations are crowd pleasers and the book's many plot twists and turns are fun.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bernie Fuchs. This biography of the legendary sharpshooter, who attained great celebrity after knowing terrific poverty, achieves an impressive level of intimacy with its subject, no doubt because it was informed by Oakley's own writings. The impressionistic paintings, executed in sepia tones, are evocative of old-time photos.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 While Annie Oakley does not seem to offer much meat for the biographer's table, Macy does a creditable job, distinctly voiced, of giving us the facts of Oakley's life, her sharpshooting accomplishments, and her stature as an American icon and folk hero. The plenitude of black-and-white and sepia-toned photographs is sometimes repetitive but always atmospheric. A chronology is included. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. The cast of Sam's Wild West Show is headed home on Christmas Eve when they come across a train that has been robbed right down to the passengers' Christmas presents. With the help of Rodeo Rosie, Sam catches the criminals and the holiday is saved. The fine-lined ink and watercolor illustrations are as deadpan as the humorous text.

Reviewer: Sara Pearce