by Pam Munoz Ryan This is another Charley Parkhurst story, but it has as much to do about life in the mid 1800s as it does the gold rush. Charlotte Parkhurst was raised in an orphange for boys. She had an affinity for horses and became a skilled stagecoach driver. She is only employable disguised as a boy, so she adopts that identity, moves to California for the gold rush and drives routes from Sacramento to Santa Cruz, settling in Watsonville. Delightfully fictionalized. paper, 138p, 5x7 Grades 3-5. [4.3, 5.8] |