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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J Fic Fleischman, S. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | + FLEISCHMAN | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Newly orphaned, young Annyrose escapes from the villainous O.O. Mary and falls under the protection of a proud and fearless Mexican bandit, regarded as the Robin Hood of the California Gold Rush. Annyrose wants only to search for her older brother who had run off to the gold diggings, but she finds herself galloping beside the celebrated outlaw in his own quest. He is hunting down the last of a band of "Yankee" riffraff who wronged him, an event that turned the innocent young Mexican into an avenging terror of the roads. With his characteristic story twists and turns and surprises, Newbery Award winner Sid Fleischman lights up a dark corner in this Gold Rush drama set against a firestorm of bigotry ignited by the lust for riches. As for this legendary bandit, dashing about on his silken black horse and breathing fire, he actually lived. 02 Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee Master List, 00-01 Charlie May Simon Book Award Reading List, 02 Nutmeg State Children's Book Award Masterlist, 00-01 Children's Choice Award Masterlist, 00-01 William Allen White Children's Book Award Masterlist, 01-02 Land of Enchantment Book Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-9), and 00-01 Sequoyah Children's Book Award Masterlist
Author Notes
Sid Fleischman was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 16, 1920 but grew up in San Diego, California. He loved all things magical and toured professionally as a magician until the beginning of World War II. During the war, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and afterwards, he graduated from San Diego State University in 1949.
After graduation, he worked as a reporter with the San Diego Daily Journal. After the paper folded in 1950, he started writing fiction. He tried his hand at children's books because his own children often wondered what their father did. To show them how he created stories, he wrote them a book. He wrote more than 50 fiction and nonfiction works during his lifetime including The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life; Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini; The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West; The Thirteenth Floor; and The Ghost in the Noonday Sun. His book, The Whipping Boy, won the Newberry Award in 1987. He is the father of Newbery Medal winning writer and poet Paul Fleischman; they are the only father and son to receive Newbery awards.
He also wrote screenplays including Lafayette Escadrille, Blood Alley, and The Whipping Boy. He died from cancer on March 17, 2010 at the age of 90.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-An exciting novel set in the days of the California Gold Rush. After young Annyrose breaks her ankle, she is left with the evil O. O. Mary by her brother, who continues on to make his fortune in the mines. She is saved from this horrible fate by the Mexican bandit Joaquín Murieta, who has come for revenge against the people who murdered his family and stole his land. Thinking that Annyrose is a boy, Joaquín takes her along with his gang so that she can teach him to read. During her travels with the band, Annyrose gains an understanding of the injustices the ruthless bandits are avenging and becomes friends with Joaquín and the others despite her fears and objections. She alternately helps and hinders their endeavors and is ultimately reunited with her brother. Written in the style of an old Western, the book is full of lore and legend of the Old West. It is fun, fast, and wild, but there is a serious side to the story. In an author's note, readers learn that a Mexican bandit, Joaquín Murieta, became a legend as both a cutthroat and a Robin Hood-type figure. Fleischman makes Joaquín a sympathetic central character as he shows the injustices suffered by minorities during this time of greed and lawlessness. This is classic Sid Fleischman: a quick read, with lots of twists, wonderful phrasing, historical integrity, and a bit of the tall tale thrown in.-Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Seasoned author Fleischman (The 13th Floor) returns with a spirited novel set against the California Gold Rush. Plucking a character out of historyJoaquín Murieta, an infamous 1850s Mexican outlawhe expertly crafts a fictionalized tale that takes a clear-eyed look at bigotry and racism, while steering away from the twin pitfalls of pedantry and sermonizing. Told from the point of view of Annyrose Smith, an orphan in search of her brother Lank, the story starts with a bang (she's swept off with the banditos) and never lets up its fierce pace. All the trademarks of one of Fleischman's rollicking yarns are here, from treachery aplenty and multiple cases of mistaken identity, to colorful rascalsall delivered with a double helping of humor (as when Annyrose attempts to teach the outlaw to read and he remarks, "They tell me my name starts with a J. Yes, I have seen that shape on wanted posters"). Fueled by brisk dialogue and lively descriptions ("my heart sounded like woodpeckers in my ears"), the story moves as swiftly as a whitewater stream, carrying readers along for an exhilarating ride. It's not all thundering hooves and gunfire, however. Fleischman also tucks in weightier issues, as Annyrose ruminates on such concepts as revenge, villainy and friendship while riding with the outlawwho, as it turns out, is hardly the bloodthirsty figure he's been painted to be. Food for thought packaged inside a most enticing adventure. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 8-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Orphaned Annyrose Smith is twelve years old when she is left in the care of a heartless swindler during the California gold rush. Dressed as a boy, she escapes, only to be gathered up by infamous outlaw Joaqufn Murieta and his outlaw band. But Joaqufn protects her because he wants her to teach him to read. At first appalled by the lawlessness of her captors as they rob and sometimes kill, Annyrose slowly and reluctantly learns of the horrors perpetrated on the original Mexican and Spanish settlers in California. She gradually becomes fond of Joaqufn and the other outlaws, especially Pio Pio, a boy about her own age. In a lively and convo-luted plot, Annyrose saves Joaqufn several times with her quick wit but eventually betrays him because she believes he has killed her long-lost brother. In the end, Joaqufn escapes to fade into the legend of a famous historical bandit hero. The characters of Joaqufn, a Mexican Robin Hood, and Annyrose, spunky but thoughtful, clothe issues of loyalty and honesty in a roaring adventure story, smartly written and chock full of humor and derring-do. Lively and compulsive reading. a.a.f. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Fleischman (The Abracadabra Kid, 1996, etc.) tells a meandering but effective story of a Mexican outlaw and a spunky ``gringo'' girl. During the Gold Rush, when recently orphaned Annyrose, dressed as a boy, escapes from her brutal caretaker, she is taken in by the infamous bandit, Joaquín Murieta. He gives her food and protection in exchange for teaching him to read; he also helps Annyrose in her search for her brother, and she helps the bandit fake his death. Her loyalty to Joaquín is only tempered by her strong sense of ethics (in fact, her moral haranguing is constant); despite his great charm and unusual kindness he is, after all, a murderous outlaw (whose crimes occur mostly offstage). Based on the exploits of bandit Joaquín Murieta, this story wanders all over the map, literally and figuratively. What holds it together is the tense but warm relationship between Annyrose and Joaquín; Fleischman infuses their scenes with charm and offers plenty of excitement set in an intriguing historical period. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 8-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-6. 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 O. O. 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 gringos 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. (Reviewed October 1, 1998)0688158307Susan Dove Lempke