Little Sure Shot

by Stephanie Spinner, Jose Miralles

An easy-to-read biography of sharpshooter Annie Oakley describes her early life and her career with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Simultaneous.

Genres: Biography, History, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 1993

About the author

I was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.

I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.

So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.

Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.

Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.

And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.

Reviews

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beginning biography about Annie Oakley.

[Talea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book for a beginning reader for girls. She is a reminder that when we, as women, had few rights and fewer prospects outside of marriage there were women who went before us proving that we are capable of so much more. All children can learn through her story that if you are true to yourself you can reach levels you never thought possible in life. We loved this little book, and my daughter has a new hero.

[Sandra Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The actual history is great, I love Annie Oakley's character, and loved a much thicker book when I was a child. but this small book is very difficult to read and badly worded for reading aloud, and even worse for beginning readers, which it is apparently meant for.

For example, the author could not seem to decide whether they were writing in past or present tense. "A nine year old girl sits alone in a run-down farm house. Her family is very poor.... The girls wants to help."
"She has an idea. That is why she is in the house all by herself. The idea scares her a little." (Complete paragraph? Terrible sentences!)
"Mama will not like this, thinks the girl. But I'm going to do it anyhow. I have to."

And on it goes, very awkwardly. Nice hard back copy, and it has an interesting mixture of unnecessary modern illustrations, and nice historical print pictures.

[Linda Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a good mentor text for biographies, culture, or gender roles. It is well written for grades 2-3. The illustrations are interesting as well.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book very interesting

[Cws]

JEAR3-Spi

[Bianca! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annie Oakley Rocks! When she was in a train crash her pretty brown hair turned white overnight. She rules the sure shots!

[Lily Beitzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

good historical info, with slight discussion about breaking gender norms of the time!

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia read this aloud to me for her Faces of History research paper for Classical Conversation. It was a good story!