Newbery Buzz #2: One Big Open Sky

Today Betsy, Janie, and Hayley discuss a verse novel we all loved. (See our starred review.)

Janie: When we picture wagon trains moving west, we don’t usually imagine them populated with freed slaves. That’s the historical background of One Big Open Sky. Three female characters tell this classic journey, beginning with Lettie, a 12-year-old whose talent with numbers earns her the job of keeping track of her family’s expenses. The ledger also becomes a journal for recording thoughts and sensations. Lettie is cautiously excited about the journey, but her mother Sylvia is dragging her feet. She’s leaving her heart behind, namely her family and church, and can’t imagine a future without that bulwark. Philomena, an ambitious and independent-minded young woman who joins up in Independence, sees Nebraska as a place to realize her dream of becoming a teacher.

These are the three voices we hear, but the driving force behind the enterprise is Thomas, Lettie’s father and Sylvia’s husband. As I wrote in my review, “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 plot follows their journey with its hardships and dangers and the inevitable prejudice they encounter along the way. But we don’t get the sense that these people are victims. They are free agents taking advantage of an opportunity (the Homestead Act) to improve their circumstances.

Betsy, what made this novel stand out for you? Did you find the narrative or the characters more compelling?

Betsy: Janie, I loved this book! I love novels in verse, and I think that format was a great choice for this novel. Verse novels offer such immediacy, particularly in terms of emotional resonance, for the characters. We only experience the story through their eyes and primarily through their reactions to events more than a strict accounting of events. As such, the father’s character is more nuanced than we might get from a more straightforward, linear style. Lettie was a delight, and her mother invited my sympathy from the get go (as a reader who is far older and more worldly-wise than tender Lettie, I picked up on some sub-plots much more quickly; I suspect most readers will). 

Hayley (or Janie), what about you? Was there a character that really stood out to you?

Janie: I found Thomas the most compelling character–almost literally, since he’s the one who gets the plot going. He fits one of my theories of gender: that women are the stabilizers of human society, and men are the drivers. Thomas is quick to take offense and often exasperating, but he’s the visionary. I would find him hard to live with, and his wife Sylvia often does too, but she understands him. I love what she says (quoted in my review) about how his vision is lifted so high he fails to see or appreciate what’s right under his nose. And here’s a big spoiler, but I think it’s important: when Thomas is killed in an accident, I could feel how devastating it was for his family. That’s how powerful a presence he was. Hayley, could you identify with any of these characters in particular? 

Hayley. Janie, Thomas definitely sparked emotions for me, though mostly it was “Good grief, what is this man doing to his family?!” But he does fit into your gender theory rather nicely. I really loved the female voices in this story, too. Sylvia is world-weary but she is not without hope or love. Lettie is so young: I loved her delight in nature. I think Philomena was the character I resonated with most: a young woman trying to find her place in a world with distinct roles and responsibilities. I appreciated her growing relationships with her fellow travelers, and her struggle between her feelings and her dreams. It made me wonder how I would have felt, if I were single and going west!

Reading this story, I definitely teared up at places. I love the character growth and the role of faith in the story. I particularly noticed faith in God when a prayer is answered at a pivotal moment. Betsy, Janie, what did you think of the role of faith in the story?

Also, what did you two think of the choice to tell this story as a novel in verse? I think overall the novel-in-verse format worked, but I did get confused at least twice due to the lack of any punctuation!    

Janie. The faith element was a huge plus for me. We see it at the very beginning when Sylvia and Thomas’s church assembles to see them off on the journey and the pastor prays over them. In many novels, even in more specifically “Christian” ones, the faith feels a bit tacked on–a character will mention prayer or prayer service and someone’s Grandma will say something about relying on the Lord, but you get the sense that God is kind of a plot embellishment. Here, it’s not like he’s a main character but more of an abiding presence. I like the way one of our reviewers for WORLD’s Book of the Year put it: “The faith portrayed is natural, real, and just fitting. I liked that it was not just a token verse or hymn here or there, but the way Christians live: we sing, we pray, we read our Bibles, we talk about this with others. It’s just woven into our lives.” Sylvia is the lynchpin here; Thomas doesn’t seem to be a genuine believer and Lettie is mostly coasting on her mother’s faith, but she’s growing.

As for the verse format, it irritated me at first but once caught up in the story the rhythm carried me along. How do you think it worked for this particular story and theme, Betsy? 

Betsy. I’m a HUGE fan of novels in verse, but I’ll also admit to having reread The Odyssey and The Aeneid “for fun” in recent years. And I recently read an obscure poetic epic from the country of George (The Knight in the Panther Skin). So, I may not be the best representation of your average novel in verse reader. What I appreciate about well-done novels in verse is the immediacy of the experience. In this case, that’s a huge plus. We’re not as familiar with Black pioneers as we are with pioneers in stories, but most readers are well-versed in the general experience of wagon-train-travel by the time they reach the target audience for One Big Open Sky. As such, the directness of the family’s experiences and thoughts are fresh and poignant in a way that might be lost were we to trudge through all the Westward expansion bits and pieces. We don’t need reminders of the logistics; we do need to experience how different it is for Lettie and her family. This format lends a genuine feel to their faith as well. It’s natural to hear their spiritual connections right alongside other deep, emotional reactions. It doesn’t feel forced the way it might if a prayer suddenly intruded in a prose paragraph. Additionally, the emotional resonance helps readers relate across the centuries and even across gender or racial lines. As a mother, I readily relate to Sylvia, even though I’m not Black nor am I living in the 19th century. But I relate to her maternal instincts. I, too, have followed a visionary husband west (from Tennessee to Washington), although I will happily report that my visionary husband is much more lovable than Thomas!

Hayley, I know you’ve said this reminded you of a childhood book about Black pioneers. Can you tell us a bit about that book? And, of course, do we think this book has Newbery potential? I definitely do. I won’t be surprised at all to see a Coretta Scott King author stamp on it either, particularly because it highlights such a little-known piece of Black history.

Hayley. Yes, Betsy! This reminded me of the 1978 chapter book Wagon Wheels, the story of a father and his 3 young sons who take a wagon and head west. It’s actually based on a true story. I recently re-read it, and I love how both books shed light on this area of lesser-known history. I also love the way both books are full of community (even in the middle of the prairie!) and hope. I think this definitely has CSK potential, and I would LOVE to see such a faith positive book win the Newbery. Will it? I really don’t know, but a girl can hope!

Janie. I will be shocked if it doesn’t win CSK recognition. That seems likely, but the Newbery less so. However, it was only a few years ago that Everything Sad Is Untrue, which is very explicit about Christian faith, won the Prinz medal for young-adult fiction. The female perspective that dominates One Big Open Sky will probably be a point in its favor with the Newbery committee. If it wins a spot on the slate, we’ll all be cheering!

NOTE: One Big Open Sky was named as WORLD Magazine’s outstanding youth fiction of 2024. See the writeup here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Listen in as we talk over the Newbery prospects for Olivetti.