Have you met Maude March?

Prissy Maude March and her dime-novel-loving little sister Sally are orphans living with their strict Aunt Ruthie somewhere on the edge of the western frontier. When Aunt Ruthie suddenly dies, the girls embark on a wild-west adventure, heading to Independence to find their long-lost uncle.

I had picked up The Misadventures of Maude March (by Audrey Couloumbis) on cd on a whim at the library. What a great book! It's funny, exciting, and though it's about two sisters, great for boys too. (You know how boys sometimes don't like "girly" books.) We were thrilled to find a sequel (Maude March on the Run!) and read that through quickly. I found myself trying to read in the same "voice" as the narrator (Lee Adams) which never works, of course. My kids did not care. After we finished this book, they wanted me to read the first one all over again. (I didn't.)

My 9 and 10 year olds could read these on their own. But they make great read-alouds. There is one mention of a "fallen woman" in the first book; in the second a short scene takes place in the local house of ill-repute. My kids didn't know that, but I did. Of course these were women with hearts of gold.

The ending of the second book left it wide-open for another installment. We'd be happy for this to become a long series.