One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome - OPTIONAL

One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome, 304 pages. Candlewick, 2024. $19. 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G Violence: PG (Deaths, peril, injuries, fighting) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

Young Lettie, the daughter of former slaves, is traveling across the midwest from the deep south with her family by covered wagon. Her father has joined a wagon train of black families wanting to receive land in Nebraska from the Homestead Act. 

One Big Open Sky is told mostly from the perspective of Lettie, who, based on her maturity and responsibility, seems to be 12yo or younger. It also contains entries told by her mother, as well as a woman who joined the wagon train later on. I struggled with the poetry format, it's not lyrical or rhythmic, using very little punctuation, which made it an odd read. I appreciated the hardship these travelers experienced, magnified by their race and poverty. I'm reminded of Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, or more recently, Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. It's nice to read these varying perspectives on Westward Expansion. Lettie and the other characters are African American. 

Lisa Librarian