Honestly this feels more like a middle grade story than a YA story for me. I would recommend it more for the middle school students I used to teach than for the high school students I work with as a librarian now. It is true that the main character’s mother is a saloon girl, and it is somewhat talked about what she does. But not in any really specific or detailed way that would make it that inappropriate for middle school age.

It was a unique story, but somewhat predictable. I liked that it took place in Tombstone, a city that mostly is connected with the shootout at the O.K. Corral as well as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday from the movie named after the town. This story didn’t include any of those well known events or people, but definitely gave you a feel for the way the town was at the time of the story.

Another concern I had was with some of the cultural things. China Mary was the name of a character, and while that is a real person, and I know that a lot of what was possibly used for names and such in this book are realistic for that time period, I am afraid that some people would have a problem with that today. I wonder if the author took the information she put about all of that history at the end, and put it in a little section before the story if that might help for people who would have an issue with that stuff.

Overall it was a good story though, a quick read, with a happy ending for our main characters even in the wild wild west of Tombstone, Arizona.

Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.