Will’s Race for Home

Gr 6 Up–Will Samuels has always dreamed of adventure; but when he and his father set off to claim land in the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush, he discovers that adventure in the Wild West may be more treacherous than he thought. Will, a young Black sharecropper in Texas, has thirsted for a chance to prove himself in the great American landscape. When his father comes home with a flier advertising the Oklahoma Land Rush, he jumps at the chance to join him. For Black folk in the American West, the journey is a tough one with enemies at every turn. As they unite with a former Union soldier, Caesar, who is also Black, Will matures under the hardships and triumphs of the American dream as a Black family. Written in hauntingly engaging prose, this brutal and heartrending ­depiction of a vital coming-of-age story is sure to grip readers. Short chapters and succinct ­language will draw in younger tweens, while the hard-hitting (and often ­forgotten) story of Black individuals ­carving out their place in the Oklahoma Land Rush will appeal to older ones. Rhodes deftly captures a unique ­aspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is ­often under-represented in historical ­fiction.