THE MISADVENTURES OF MAUDE MARCH BY AUDREY COULOUMBIS

The MISADVENTURES OF MAUDE MARCH is the second book on the Sunshine State Young Readers Award Program.

This is from the book jacket:

“Eleven-year-old Sallie March is a whip-smart tomboy and voracious reader of Western adventure novels. When she and her sister Maude are orphaned for the second time, they decide to escape their self-serving guardians for the wilds of the frontier and an adventure the likes of which Sallie has only read about. This time, however, the “wanted woman” isn’t a dime-novel villain, it’s Sallie’s very own sister! What follows is the rollicking, edge-of-your-seat story of what really happened out there on the range. Not the lies the papers printed, but the honest-to-goodness truth of how things went from bad to worse and how two sisters went from being orphans to being outlaws–and lived to tell the tale!”

This book had many laugh out loud moments. One of the goals of the state reading program is to encourage kids to read for enjoyment. This book fits the bill, and has lots of historical facts about the “Wild West” sprinkled throughout. But honestly, what makes this book special are the characters of Sallie and Maude. You can’t help but love ’em, and anticipate their next rootin’, tootin’ adventure!