Annie Oakley: Wild West Sharpshooter (Best of the West Biographies)

Grade 3-6–Landau opens with Oakley's difficult early days, with little sugarcoating. For example, she mentions the hard work and physical abuse that young Annie had to endure while living with a farm family. Her marriage to fellow sure-shot Frank Butler, career, philanthropy, feminism, and fame are all adequately addressed. Period photographs, especially of the subject, abound. A sweet side story about the couple's dog, Dave, is appended. Frustratingly, one Internet address listed has a typo. Libraries owning Sue Macy's Bull's-Eye (National Geographic, 2001) or Charles Shields's Annie Oakley (Chelsea, 2001) might still want to consider Landau's work because, with large type and mostly uncomplicated sentences set amid plenty of white space, it is better for reluctant readers.