Bad luck follows orphaned Annyrose Smith like an afternoon shadow. Her brother is lost to her -- gone to strike it rich in the California gold rush -- and now she's been snatched by a famed Mexican bandit who thinks she's a boy and decides she might be useful in his own quest. Joaquin has a price on his head and a reputation for revenge, it's true, but he's as deeply loyal to his family as Annyrose is to hers. Can this unlikely duo help each other find what they seek? Non-stop action and a plot with more twists and turns than a canyon wall add up to a signature novel from the never predictable but always remarkable Sid Fleischman

5-8