A SHOOTING STAR

From the author of Kool Ada (1991), a fictional glimpse of Annie Oakley that combines elements reminiscent of Wilder's Little House on the Prairie and Burnett's story of The Little Princess. The fast-moving first-person narration begins during the Civil War, when Annie's father dies and the family is in dire straits. One day Annie shoots a rabbit for food, a great blessing that also distresses her Quaker mother who believes that girls should not shoot. When the financial situation becomes impossible, the family splits up and Annie begins a bleak but tolerable existence in a poorhouse. It's a black day when she is sent to help a farm family, where she is beaten, overworked, and starved. She runs away, returning to her family where she resumes the role of provider, thanks to her hunting skills. The inventive plot moves quickly, with pacing and settings that are cinematic and a great happy ending. Readers won't know if the voice of the real Annie has been captured, but this is a terrific story, with moments- -e.g., when the usually careful Annie tells her life story to her future husband, or the description of the quiet of her mind when she aims her gun—that are utterly convincing. (Fiction. 10-12)