THE EAGLE HUNTRESS The True Story of the Girl Who Soared Beyond Expectations

Aisholpan Nurgaiv is a real-life Kazakh girl who became the first female entrant and winner in Mongolia's prestigious Golden Eagle Festival. Hunting with eagles is an ancient skill traditionally limited to males. Narrator Alexa Khan uses her youthful voice to re-create Nurgaiv's accented English. This gives the first-person story a feeling of authenticity, as Nurgaiv frequently describes her unfamiliarity with the world outside her nomadic life in Mongolia. However, the stilted speech pattern makes the story's pace quite slow, a weakness that is compounded by the absence of contractions in Nurgaiv's writing. Nurgaiv has an even temperament, but Khan also expresses her occasional frustrations, her sadness over the death of a beloved relative, and her excitement upon winning the competition. L.T. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2020]