Born to Be a Cowgirl

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

In her lively preface to Cowgirls (1996), Candace Savage explains that,
“The cowgirl set me on the trail to becoming a feminist, and perhaps
she led many other girls along the same promising path.” Savage’s
fascination with cowgirls has led to this new book for preteens.
However, while an observant youngster will note that cowgirls faced many
more obstacles than their male counterparts, the feminist theme is less
apparent. Indeed, one of the flaws of this book is that it lacks focus
and continuity. The storyline switches from Fannie Sperry in Montana to
the establishment of First Nations reserves, and from the use of a
“reliable horse” as a babysitter to the (comparatively) practical
but shocking “split-skirts” developed by cowgirls to permit riding
astride. Furthermore, there is often little connection between the
illustrations and the text. Many of the pictures are from Alberta, but,
apart from the chapter on “The Calgary Stampede,” there is little
Canadian information in the book.

It would be unfair to dismiss Born to Be a Cowgirl as simply an
adaptation of Cowgirl. There is new material and evidence of new
research. The much-abbreviated bibliography, in addition to at least two
new books, lists two videos and five Web sites. It is unfortunate, given
the probable audience, that the typeface is not somewhat larger. On the
other hand, the glossary is a better than usual one. Enjoyable, but not
a first-choice purchase.