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meganbmooreA pair of MG westerns (I suspect there will be more in the series, but haven't checked) about sisters Maude and Sallie March, who set out west to find relatives after their aunt dies and they're taken in by people who want to keep Sallie as a permanent unpaid servant out of "charity" and force Maude to marry someone she dislikes. Along the way, they become horses thieves and bank robbers by accident, and Maude becomes known as a dangerous outlaw and killer.
It has the "prim older sister and tomboyish younger sister" set-uo, but unlike certain other authors, Couloumbis doesn't set them against each other (beyond typical bickering for 15 and 11-later 16 and 12-year-old-kids) but instead has them largely get along andthe tomboy look up to her sister (even if she doesn't really realize it) and think she's awesome, without wishing she were prettier and more ladylike herself. it also lets the prim and ladylike sister be the one closer to an action heroine, and the tomboy the one who's on the side for a lot of the action but makes plans. (Sallie does get to participate a lot, but she's also way younger.)
There's also a lot of emphasis on stories and legends and the real people behind them (aside from Maude's criminal legend-and she gets umpteen impersonators along the way-one of the other characters is the real person featured in a series of penny dreadfuls that Sallie loves, and is nothing like how he's portrayed in the stories) which is a narrative kink of mine but not everyone likes that. There are also slight implications of a potential romantic plotline that could develop later that might make some readers iffy, but fits the time period.
But basically, if you like stories about sisters or want more westerns about girls having adventures, read these books.
It has the "prim older sister and tomboyish younger sister" set-uo, but unlike certain other authors, Couloumbis doesn't set them against each other (beyond typical bickering for 15 and 11-later 16 and 12-year-old-kids) but instead has them largely get along andthe tomboy look up to her sister (even if she doesn't really realize it) and think she's awesome, without wishing she were prettier and more ladylike herself. it also lets the prim and ladylike sister be the one closer to an action heroine, and the tomboy the one who's on the side for a lot of the action but makes plans. (Sallie does get to participate a lot, but she's also way younger.)
There's also a lot of emphasis on stories and legends and the real people behind them (aside from Maude's criminal legend-and she gets umpteen impersonators along the way-one of the other characters is the real person featured in a series of penny dreadfuls that Sallie loves, and is nothing like how he's portrayed in the stories) which is a narrative kink of mine but not everyone likes that. There are also slight implications of a potential romantic plotline that could develop later that might make some readers iffy, but fits the time period.
But basically, if you like stories about sisters or want more westerns about girls having adventures, read these books.
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Date: 2011-08-10 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-10 02:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-11 01:35 am (UTC)