Ride 'em, cowgirl!

Hold on to your hat, and get ready for an adventure - the action doesn't stop in The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis. After being orphaned, sisters Sallie and Maude March live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with stern Aunt Ruthie, but when she gets killed by a gunslinger's stray bullet, they're orphaned again. The girls disguise themselves as boys, take a couple of horses, and head to Independence, Missouri to try to find their only remaining relative, Uncle Arlen. Along the way, they always seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time (like bank robberies), and soon the papers are full of articles on "Mad" Maude March and the crimes she (supposedly) committed. Sallie makes a pretty amusing narrator and it was fun to read about life on the prairie, but I didn't think the story line was always convincing - the appearances of Marion seemed to be too coincidental after a while, and the girls' attitude when Willie got killed was too indifferent. I liked the strong female characters, though, and I bet this would be a fun book to read aloud.