Gr 4-8-This highly readable book has a rich layout of photographs and illustrations on every spread. Wills describes Oakley's humble Quaker heritage, her childhood filled with poverty and abuse, and her rise to international fame while incorporating information about events and conventions of the era. Her time spent touring with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show is chronicled in exciting detail, from the triumphs (meeting Queen Victoria and other royalty) to the tragedies (a head-on train accident in which more than 100 horses were killed). The author explains that despite Oakley's fame, there are many unknowns about her life (such as the exact date and place of her marriage). In fact, Oakley relished her privacy and her reputation so much that she often gave conflicting dates in her own writings and in personal interviews. Overall, this is an excellent companion to Sue Macy's Bull's-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley (National Geographic, 2001), which has a more succinct text and similar striking photographs in a larger format.-Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.