Middle-Grade Review: Will’s Race for Home By Jewell Parker Rhodes

In 1888, Will lives with his mother, father, and grandfather in Texas. The father and grandfather left Louisiana after enslaved people were set free when the father was about nine, and walked the entire way to Texas. There, the family work as sharecroppers, putting in long hours planting, tending, and harvesting cotton only to have 70% of their profits end up in the pocket of the landowner, Mr. Thompson. When the father is handed a flyer about the Oklahoma Land Rush, he brings it home for his wife to read. She has secretly been teaching Will to read as well, and the family is very excited to be able to claim land. Since it is another arduous journey, the mother and grandfather stay behind, and Will and his father take their mule, Belle, and head off. They need to travel over eight hours a day for 40 days to make it in time for the April filing date. There are challenges on the trail, like snakes, meager rations, but the real threats come from other people that they meet in town before crossing the Red River. Left alone with the wagon, Will is attacked by men who try to steal the family’s money and supplies. Luckily, Caesar, an older Black Civil War veteran, calmly threatens the men with shooting them, and they back off. Of course, the sheriff throws the three out of town because he doesn’t want Black people causing trouble, even though they were not at fault. Caesar is shot by one of the bystanders, a Confederate veteran, but Will has followed him and manages to get him back to his father, who removes the bullet and saves Caesar’s life. It takes several days to get Caesar will enough to attempt to cross the river. After a treacherous crossing that imperils Belle, the group realizes that they can’t make it to Oklahoma in time as a group. The decision is made to let Will take Caesar’s horse, Midnight, and ride to Oklahoma by himself to file a claim. He manages to make it just in time, and dutifully stakes out the family’s land. Unfortunately, a group of men arrive and state that they have already filed for Will’s portion, showing him a bill of sale for other goods as proof, assuming he can’t read. Unwilling to let the land go, Will brandishes the pistol Caesar insisted he take, and channels Caesar’s calm but masterful demeanor, telling the men in no uncertain terms that he would rather kill them than give up the land. They are impressed, and leave him alone. Eventually, Belle and the two men find Will’s claim. They work to plant wheat, corn, and alfalfa, and to improve the property, knowing that in five years, the land will be theirs. The grandfather and mother arrive by stagecoach, and Caesar decides it is time to continue his journey to the west coast.