Danger at the Wild West Show

American Girl History Mysteries #19

by Alison Hart

Twelve-year-old Rose sets out to prove her brother's innocence when he is accused of shooting a politician during a Wild West show performance in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1886.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Middle Grade, Childrens, Horses, Fiction, Historical

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Alison Hart is a pseudonym for writer Alice Leonhardt

A Virginia author of over twenty mysteries and historical fiction novels for children and teens, loves “writing books that keep young readers glued to the pages.” At the age of seven she wrote, illustrated and self-published The Wild Dog, a book which she shows to readers to make the point that it is never too early to be an author.

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do appreciate this author having the restraint the author of Hoofbeats of Danger didn’t and making a fictional character based on Buffalo Bill instead of putting actual-ass Buffalo Bill Cody in the book. Although I do still have to question how uncritically this book presents Wild West shows. It’s weird how they kind of acknowledge that being in the show is degrading for the Sioux performers but it’s the only way for them to earn money to send back to their starving people, but Rose never really engages with the idea that maybe the way the Wild West show portrays Native Americans is…bad?

[Sophie Spruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very entertaining. Rose is a tomboy but in a charming way. She reminded me of Kit Kittredge. It was nice to see a mystery related to the time period rather than a mystery that just happens to be set in a time period. Native American portrayal was a little stereotypical, but otherwise I really liked this one!

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine in terms of execution, but I could not care less about horse girl stories. Maybe this bias was why my interest waned and I didn’t pay attention well enough, but I honestly did find the Looking Back section to be fascinating, so idk. There were also way too many men in the book and I couldn’t keep track of who all of them were or what political side they fell on. So it just made the mystery boring for me, despite some decent plot twists.

I liked that the book pushed the boundaries for this series a little bit. The main character is literally shot at the end (but of course recovers.) There was also a scene where her older brother was refusing to name the girl he’d met up with because he didn’t want to “compromise her good name” or something. Realistic but subtle enough that kids wouldn’t pick up on it!

The protagonist is a tomboy who disdains all forms of femininity, which isn’t typically my favorite kind of character in historical fiction. But she did have some interesting growth concerning accepting others for their different personalities/interests, which was good stuff.

The next book can’t be found online so now I have to order it from the library and skip around while I wait for it to come in. :(

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad that my 10-year-old son is willing to look past the marketing of these books as "girl books" and read those with storylines that appeal to him. This story contains plenty of action and daring-do and the sharp-shooting, stunt riding and mystery totally appealed to his interests right now and, while Rose is certainly the protagonist, we have plenty of male characters including another boy around her age, and her very cool older brother. Personally, I will say that the characterization in this story didn't draw me in with any emotional resonance the way some of the other American Girl books have done, but I appreciated the plot and one of the twists in the mystery actually surprised me. I'm also glad that this shows some of the Native American perspective with regard to the Wild West shows and Westward Expansion and feel the author was skillful in portraying both completely odious white men and those who tried to be more fair and upstanding in their relations with the tribes (the historical aspect here centers around the Dawes Allotment Act which further restricted Native American access to lands; we have senators on both sides of the argument in this book).

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a hard time getting into this one. The setting wasn't the greatest, IMO. But the mystery was fun to figure out, even though it didn't seem to have many red herrings by the time you knew what happened. Main character, Rose, was good.

[Danae · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Harlyn Rengel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE mysteries ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 19th book in the History Mysteries series and takes place in 1886 at a Wild West show being held in Louisville.

Rose is a young girl whose father is dead. She lives with her mother and does some performing in the show, but only mild things. What she really wants to do is to be a real performer, doing trick stunts while riding a horse, but since she's a girl, and she's young, no one will give her a real chance.

While taking part in a re-enactment of a stage coach holdup a man near her is shot, and that starts her adventure. Her brother is arrested for the shooting and she knows it's not him; the person that can help her most is White Bear, a Native American chief working for the show. His answers to her questions are not totally clear, though, and she has to do a lot of work on her own. He guides her, and she gets a good idea who is actually behind the shooting, but she has to figure out how to get anyone else to believe her.

Personally I don't care a lot for western-type things (except for the TV series Deadwood), so I was surprised when I found that I actually enjoyed the book. It's a decent story; in fact, it would make a good TV show itself. Definitely worth reading.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really surprised that Zane was the one who got arrested. Even though his sister left his Colts on the sewing table, Zane couldn't blame her. As his sister tries to find out who shot General Judson, the Wild West Show has a risk of closing. The Taylor family has been with the Wild West Show since it began, and the guilt is leaning on another person now. This book has a lot of suspence and I liked it.

[Arianna Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved it. it was a perfect mystery book. i think everyone should read it.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOTALLY COOL!!!!!!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well written book! Very thrilling!

[Elevetha · Rating 2 out of 5]

9+. It was all right.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rose was a bit annoying but the book did a good job of exploring the complicated legacy of the Wild West Show.

[Kristi Clemow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story - but a bit dark for a children's book - involves someone shooting someone/murder attempts. But the historical fiction was good