Rosie in Los Angeles: Action! Book

With the success of Papa's latest baseball film, Rosie and her family move to beautiful Los Angeles to shoot more films starring Rosie. And there's no wasting time; within days of unpacking, Papa brings home an entire Wild West show so he can make authentic Westerns! Rosie's so excited about riding a horse for the first time that she forgets to watch her step -- and before she knows it, she's caused a terrible accident for the show's best trick rider. Oy vey! Where will Papa's Western movies be without a real trick rider...and with a star who doesn't even know how to get on a horse?

Enter Zach, the son of the injured rider. Rosie finds him simply irritating! And just when Rosie thought it couldn't get any worse, she and Zach get hopelessly lost in the hills. All they have to get past the mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and other enemies in the wild are their wits, their skills, and each other. Can Rosie and Zach set aside their differences and brave the challenges ahead so that this story has a happy ending?

Dawn Elizabeth Hunt - Children's Literature

Set in Hollywood in the earliest days of filmmaking, this book features Rosie, a high-spirited Jewish girl, who has appeared as the star of several of her father's silent films in two previous books by the same author, part of the "Aladdin Historical Fiction" series. When Rosie's father hires an entire wild west show to help with his first western, Rosie meets Zach, the rude and irritable son of the show's feature rider. When two prize horses escape, Zach and Rosie take off into the wild Santa Monica Mountains to find them. They lose their way, barely avoiding attacks by a mountain lion and a rattlesnake. Then they are captured by, then escape from, a pair of robbers who are plotting to steal all the horses from the show. How Rosie and Zach overcome these dangers and their dislike for each other, conquer their very real fears, and help save the horses, makes for a very exciting, yet thoughtful, book. The guardian angel who appears in Rosie's dreams as a wise and drawling Jewish cowboy ("Shalom, y'all") is a sample of the author's quirky humor, and her intent to offer more than just an action story. Rosie is a great example of a confident girl who still has to work through fears and feelings, a good role model for upper elementary and middle school girls. 2004, Aladdin Paperbacks/Simon & Schuster, Ages 9 to 12.