Girls to the Rescue, Book #6: Tales of Clever, Courageous Girls from Around the World

In most heroic tales, a helpless young lady waits around for a prince to rescue her. But the spunky girls in this entertaining series are much too busy saving the day to await Prince Charming. These stories from around the world inspire readers to become a new kind of heroine. If you enjoy the stories in this book, look for more fun adventures in the other books in the series.

In most heroic tales, a helpless young lady waits around for a prince to rescue her. But the spunky girls in this entertaining series are much too busy saving the day to await Prince Charming. These stories from around the world inspire readers to become a new kind of heroine. If you enjoy the stories in this book, look for more fun adventures in the other books in the series. This sixth book in the series contains the following short stories: "Dead Wrong," "Ginger Murphy Goes to Sea," "Carmelina," "Message in the Music," "Lily and the Darters," "Samantha's Dog-Gone Adventure," "Chita's Garden," "Shannon' Holmes's First Case," and "Ang Pemba and the King's Riddle."

Grade 3-6-A lackluster collection of stories. "Message in the Music" is a particularly disappointing selection about a slave on a North Carolina plantation. Sally learns that her younger brother is going to be sold and decides that they must run away. In an overly simple plot, she easily flees, nurses her sick brother back to health, and finds fellow escaped slaves. "Dead Wrong," a story about a girl who lives in a Canadian lumber camp, offers a bit more excitement. Overall, though, the selections are just too neatly tied together and the characters too flat to inspire many readers. This title may appeal to the "American Girls" (Pleasant Company) crowd, but they will quickly move on to more challenging fare. Virginia Hamilton's Her Stories (Scholastic, 1995) is a much better anthology.
Julie Shatterly, York County Public Library, Rock Hill, SC
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