Wiley’s novel is a thrill ride excitingly grounded in film history, which is discussed in a fascinating afterword. Soon, Pearl’s jumping out of windows and riding like lightning for the camera. Pearl’s older brothers quickly get work performing stunts in his movies, and Pearl accidentally gets a break when the director sees her hold her own on a spooked horse. Corrigan came to town to film moving pictures called westerns. She loves living on her family’s ranch in Lemon Springs, California, though she wouldn’t mind if someone else had to tend their ornery ostriches. This Pearl-Pearl Donnelly-could ride a horse before she could run, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Wiley channels the spirit of silent-film star Pearl White in this lively yarn about a rancher’s daughter roped into the movie business. Set in the early 20th century and inspired by real-life silent-film star Pearl White, Wiley’s ( The Prairie Thief) vivid snapshot of cinema’s early days, as well as Pearl’s life on the ranch, offers warmth and wit. Lively illustrations by Deas mirror the heart, humor, and bravery of Pearl herself. Along the way, she discovers a passion for acting and navigates relationships with her difficult brother, as well as Mary, a town girl jealous of Pearl’s film roles.
Pearl learns to act on the job (“Can you show me scared instead of stomachache-y?”) and begins her career doing parts that require stunts, such as jumping out of a window and even shinnying down a rope out of a hot air balloon.
When Pearl visits the set and her horse spooks, her ability to remount the galloping animal earns her a part in the director’s next film. The brothers’ advanced riding skills get them recruited to play “Death-Defying Cowboys” in the new moving pictures. Pearl, 11, lives on a cattle and ostrich ranch outside San Diego, where she helps to tend temperamental ostriches, learned to ride horses early on, and rivaled her older brothers on horseback by the time she was nine. Introducing Pearl, The Nerviest Girl in the World!
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