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

36 Pages·2019·8.79 MB·English

by  Almon, Claire;Charlies, Tami

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Tami Charles is a former teacher Call her a legend. H
A
who now writes picture books, novels,
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Call her a trailblazer.
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and nonfiction for kids. Her books E It’s 1895 and the town of Cascade,
S
Call her…Fearless!
include the middle grade novel Like • Montana, needs a stagecoach driver to

A
Vanessa and the picture book Freedom make deliveries up in the mountains. It’s
L
M
Soup. The first time she saw a picture a dangerous job, and most people think
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of Mary Fields proudly perched on a N only a man has the nerve to do it.
stagecoach, she knew she had to find But that doesn’t stop Mary Fields.
out more about her. Tami lives in central She knows she can outride any man.
New Jersey with her husband and son. And when she tries out for the job
Visit her online at www.tamiwrites.com. against forty cowboys, she proves she
can hitch a six-horse team faster than
Claire Almon is an illustrator and any of them! She gets the job, and with
an animation character designer. As her pet eagle at her side, Mary protects
the kid of an Army doctor dad, her the mail against the outlaws and wild
family moved from state to state, animals who roam the mountain passes.
which has helped her understand The true story of the first African
people from all walks of life. She lives American woman to drive a stagecoach,
in Atlanta, Georgia, where she loves who became a legendary figure of the Wild
dancing, napping, and being an aunt West and a trailblazer in her own right.
to her six nieces. Her website is
www.clairealmon.carbonmade.com.
ISBN 978-0-8075-2305-6
ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY
51699
Publishing award-winning children’s books since 1919
illustrated by
www.albertwhitman.com
9 780807 523056 Printed in China
Jacket art copyright © 2019 by Albert Whitman & Company
FearlessMary_JKT.indd 1 7/26/18 4:22 PM
illustrated by
Albert Whitman & Company
Chicago, Illinois
FearlessMary_INT.indd 1 7/26/18 4:29 PM
To Jennifer Carlisle-Peters,
the most fearless
woman I know—TC
To my sweet nieces,
all six of them—CA
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In the city of Cascade, Montana, Mary Fields sees “Help Wanted” signs
everywhere. The city needs a new stagecoach driver to make deliveries
to a school, Saint Peter’s Mission. It’s a good job, an important job, but a
dangerous one too.
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It’s 1895. Sending supplies and messages to Cascade is easy thanks to
telegraphs and trains. But the trails that snake through the mountains up
to Saint Peter’s make it almost impossible to reach.
The best way to deliver the mail there is by stagecoach.
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Outlaws prey on stagecoaches, which carry valuable supplies, money,
and food. Wild animals prey on them too. The stagecoach is usually
guarded by one person: the driver. To do the job, you need to be smart,
tough, unshakable.
As a former slave who traveled to the West alone to seek opportunity,
Mary Fields is all of those things.
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With the job comes respect and high wages—nearly seventy-five dollars
a month. With that kind of pay, a person can live a good life. But most
people think a job like this is meant for men, not women, and especially
not an ex-slave. Getting the job will be hard for Mary. Even though the
Wild West is supposed to be a land of opportunity, everything is segregated.
“Whites Only” restaurants. “Whites Only” jobs. “Whites Only” pay.
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That doesn’t stop Mary—it only makes her want to prove that
everyone should be equal. Including women.
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