*One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome

One Big Open Sky fills a history gap with the story of black settlers heading west in wagon trains.

*One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome. Holiday House, 2024, 297 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 12-16

Lettie’s mother wasn’t happy at all when her father decided to pull up stakes in Mississippi and claim land in Nebraska. To Thomas, a former slave, land represents real freedom. To Sylvia, home means family—sisters and brothers and a church she may never see again. Lettie doesn’t know what to think, but there’s a long road ahead with time for thinking. She’s a bright girl with a head for numbers and a blank ledger given by her mother to keep track of their expenses. But in addition to numbers, the ledger will fill up with a record of their great adventure: the exhaustion and boredom as well as the new friends, new sights, new challenges, joys, and tragedies.

This is a “Great Migration” little noted in history books: black families, and sometimes entire communities, relocating from the southern states to the Midwest in response to the Homestead Act of 1862. Their story deserves to be much better known–a story of oppressed people taking their destiny in hand and acting with courage and determination. Lettie is the chief narrator, but her mother Sylvia has a side of the story to tell. As does Philomena Pratt, an ambitious young woman who joins the wagon train in Independence. The men are seen through their eyes, chiefly Thomas the instigator of it all. “Ain’t that a man,” Sylvia muses: “Always got to go chasing ‘cause he can’t never see what’s right before his eyes.” Thomas is a flawed man, both proud and prickly, but also a man of vision who loves his children and wants a better life for them as well as himself.

The verse-novel format works for the free-flowing thoughts of the three narrators, but it takes a little getting used too. A reader may be frustrated at first by the lack of punctuation (as I was—where are the periods??). But with perseverance a flow will emerge, along with a deep connection to these characters. I was particularly struck by character development and growth throughout the story. Fearful Sylvia learns to trust her best judgment as well as the Lord, and independent-minded Philomena learns to open her heart. Lettie has a lot of growing still to do, but develops into an observant, sympathetic young lady full of hope for the future.

Since about half the story is told from the viewpoint of adults, and themes include honorable romance, One Big Open Sky may be best suited for older middle-graders and teens. Even for adult readers, it’s a journey well worth taking.

Consideration:

• One use of the d— word early in the narrative.

Overall Rating: 4.75 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4.5
• Artistic/literary value: 5

Read more about our ratings here.

More at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: We gave a favorable review to the author’s Leaving Lymon. Also Finding Langston.
• Reviews: “Proving up” a claim in the American West is a theme of Hattie Big Sky (starred review) and Buffalo Flats.
• Reflection: The author mentions reading the Little House series as a child and wondering “Where are all the Black people?” One Big Open Sky is her answer. See our thoughts on Historical Racism in children’s books.

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