Grade 4-6-- Belle Starr (nee Myra Maybelle Shirley) is a perfect example of media hype. She consorted with outlaws, sheltered and aided them, but her criminal career was minor compared to the notoriety attached to her name after her death. Green and Sanford take pains to separate the myth from the reality while making readers aware of both in this interesting biography of a colorful character. Black-and-white photographs enliven the format. The writing style is sometimes coy--``Jim Reed was the man who made May's heart beat faster,'' but always clear. The care taken to distinguish romantic legend from reality allows readers the pleasure of the former while keeping it in perspective. This book should prove fairly popular when biography reports are assigned (although it has only 40 pages of text, which will be a problem in some schools), and may even draw some browsers as well.
