FICTION

Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver

illus. by Claire Almon. 32p. Albert Whitman. Jan. 2019. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780807523056.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 2—This adventure-packed account set in 1895 Cascade, MT, centers on Mary Fields, a former slave and the first African American woman to drive a stagecoach. The author's note discusses the lack of available information on Fields—hence, the book reads more like a composite of Fields than a precise biography. Nonetheless, this story offers a much-needed correction to the often whitewashed history of the American West. Almon's full-color illustrations are soft, rounded, and appropriately child-friendly.
VERDICT A worthy purchase for libraries serving young children and for classroom lessons on U.S. history, bravery, and overcoming adversity.

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