Newbery Buzz 2026: Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Our second Newbery Buzz discussion for 2026: Janie and Betsy discuss Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes (read our starred review here). To see the rest of our discussions from previous years, visit our Newbery Buzz home page. And, as a reminder: we have no idea what the actual Newbery committee is discussing as finalists, but we DO know they will reveal the winners and honors this month!

BETSY: Janie, I know you liked Will’s Race for Home a lot (read her starred review). It was an early book this year (you reviewed it back in February), and we always wonder if those early books are going to hold their own in a given year. What is still to come? Any new books that will trump this one? Well, I just read Will’s Race for Home in December, and I think it definitely ranks up there with the top books this year.

{For those who haven’t read it yet, Will is a young Black boy who sets off with his father to claim some land in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889.}

Janie, what were your first impressions of this book? 

JANIE: I was eager to read it because historical fiction has always been my favorite, and straightforward historical fiction (without fantasy elements or modern twists) is relatively hard to find these days. Even more rare is the classic American western. Let’s start with the setting: Will Samuel, the protagonist, is the son of sharecroppers working a cotton farm in Texas. His father and grandfather were slaves in Louisiana who escaped to Texas before the end of the Civil War. Hard work with little hope of getting ahead has soured Will’s father, and the two don’t have much of a relationship. But with news of free land opening up in Oklahoma for anyone bold enough to claim it, a better future beckons.

The Oklahoma Land Rush is a dramatic true story, so I had high expectations. The narrative is told in first-person, present tense, which doesn’t always work for historical fiction (and is really overdone in most fiction these days!), but after a touch of disappointment, I was quickly drawn into Will’s perspective. The author chooses her words carefully and the spare but vivid style seems exactly suited to a 12-year-old black boy who hasn’t had much experience of the world but feels it deeply.

That was my first impression. What about yours? And what did you see as the central theme or conflict?

BETSY: You know, Janie, I had the same first impressions regarding the first person present tense. But, like you, I soon got drawn in. In some ways, this book reminded me of verse novels: spare prose, immediacy with the main character’s experience and emotions, and a quickly moving narrative. I ended up really liking it. I’m glad to see a short novel pack such a punch. We’ve seen too many overloaded novels lately that are just too long.

I think the central theme or conflict revolves around Will’s sense of identity, particularly as it relates to his father. The two are clearly at odds at the beginning, with Will craving some small token of approval from his father and also hungering for more information about who his father really is. He longs to hear the stories of how his father and grandfather escaped their slavery and what the journey was like. But the two men are reluctant to talk about those days. I loved how Will learns more of himself even as he’s learning more about his father on their journey together to Oklahoma. I think that’s often how we transition from child to adult: learning who we are even as we learn who our parents are as individuals (not just as “mom” or “dad”). 

What did you think of their family dynamics as a whole, Janie? And, more generally, what did you think of the character development as a whole? For Will and his family, but also for the other (few) characters we meet?

JANIE: The family is built on a story: that of Will’s father and grandfather escaping from slavery. But the story has stalled and, as you mention, it has a darkness at its core that is never fully revealed. To Will, this is stultifying , as if they’re all trapped in a plot with no resolution. Fortunately, Will’s mother knows the Author. Her role is understated but essential, and it’s clear (to me, at least!) as the narrative develops that her prayers are keeping the menfolk safe on their adventure. Of course they’ll encounter bad guys along the way – some white, some black. But the most important supporting character seems ambiguous, at least at first. He is a black man named Caesar, probably a former slave, who wears the uniform of a union army soldier. Caesar is a mystery, even more than Will’s father – they never learn his origins, and in some ways he seems almost threatening. But Caesar will prove to be the pivot in Will’s turn from boy to man. By the end, Will’s name seems especially appropriate, as by sheer determination he must take the reins (literally as well as figuratively) and drive the family out of their rut and into a new beginning.

What did you think of the racial aspect of the book, Betsy?

BETSY: I love the way you describe the mother’s role (and her faith). I thought this book handled her Christian faith really well. It’s not preachy, but it’s definitely a persistent part in the background of the plot. And, similarly, the racial elements do not feel forced. It’s clear that the family suffers from racism (after all, they escaped slavery!). But it’s equally clear that they have hope for the future, and they are willing to pursue their goals at great cost to themselves.

When Caesar shows up, his history (what we know of it), illustrates the racial tensions further because of his Union army background. The white people in some of the towns bear him a real grudge—I got the feeling it was a double offense to them because Caesar was both a black man AND a Union soldier, two great issues for white Southerners in the years following the Civil War. Nonetheless, a fellow Union soldier (white) showed Caesar great respect. It’s refreshing to read a book that treats historical racism honestly, but doesn’t paint all people with the same brush. It’s also helpful for young readers to see racial tension against a backdrop different from slavery or the Civil War or the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. There’s more to our collective history, and Rhodes introduces these issues without bitterness or despair. At core, this is Will’s story. His race factors into the story where important, but he is eminently relatable to all young men, regardless of their own ethnic background or place in history. After all, the goal for all boys is to grow to manhood, and we would hope many follow in Will’s footsteps!

And now, Janie, for the crux of the matter: do you think we’ll see this book on the Newbery “stage”? I think it will earn some Coretta Scott King love. What do you think its chances for the Newbery are?

JANIE: Yes, it’s a shoo-in for CSK honors. And I think its Newbery chances are better than even. It reminds me of One Big Open Sky, which won a silver medal last year: similar theme and plotline, but totally different in execution. I’m excited about this year’s buzz books, because many of them are really good. On the 26th of this month, all will be revealed!

Readers, we’d love to know: what books to YOU think have a chance at this year’s Newbery? (Members, log-in to leave a comment!)