This books details the life of Charley Darkey one of the best drivers in the motherlode. You learn everything from how he was an orphaned to how he got his eye kicked out. We see that he lived a very eventful life even shooting down a bandit who tried to steal from him. The real twist came from the end of the book when it is revealed that Charley was actually a woman the entire time. ( )

In this book, Charley goes his entire life work hard jobs and doing whatever he could to make money. He was different though. He never spoke and he always dressed a little weird. He was the best stagecoach driver around. He even lost an eye and a fight. In the end, Charley died. It isn't until then that we discover that Charley is actually a girl. Charley disguised herself as a guy her entire life. She needed to make money and it was socially unacceptable for woman to work at the time.
Charley sets the example for everyone. She proves that just because you are male or female, doesn't mean that you cannot do certain things. Charley proved that woman can just as much and more than a man could. For her to go her entire life as a different gender is simply remarkable. She is definitely rough and tough. ( )

In this book an orphan runs away to a stable. The owner finds him and he offers him a place to stay in return for work. Throughout the book Charley becomes one of the best stage-coach drivers. He drives people and things all over and protects them. He never falls in love and just stays to himself. At the end of the book he gets sick and the doctor makes a shocking discovery. Charley is really a woman. She acted like a man so she could get a job as a stage-coach driver and vote. Back in that time women did not have many rights. This book was a true story that captured a great part of history also. The book was also an easy read and rhymed.I would read this book to 2nd-5th graders to teach about women's rights and the struggles back in that time. ( )

The story in this book has great twist to it. Rough, Tough Charley is about a woman who posses as a man in order to drive wagon trains in the wild west days. This book was very fun to read. ( )

This was a very short form of poetry that told the story of a woman who posed as a man and drove wagon trains in the days of the wild west. It was an interesting story, though a few more syllables in a couple of the lines would have been appreciated. But what do I know? I've never been much for some forms of poetry. ( )