A Thrilling Ride

TFK Kid Reporter Meyer Ballas read Will’s Race for Home and interviewed its author, Jewell Parker Rhodes. Read Meyer’s thoughts below.

In Will’s Race for Home, Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a captivating, action-packed story about the Oklahoma Land Rush. The book takes place in 1889. It presents a historically accurate version of the American West, focusing on a Black family. Rhodes told TFK she wanted to highlight that the West was actually a “multi-ethnic landscape,” though books and movies often focus on white settlers.

The story focuses on Will, who’s 12. Prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1863, his parents were enslaved. Will, his parents, and his grandfather live and work on someone else’s land. But then they hear about a land rush. This was when people were allowed to claim their own land in the American West. But to claim it, Will and his father, George, must be the first people to arrive on the land. They have five months to get there. They have a long journey across Texas and Oklahoma.

Will is a likable character who demonstrates “fortitude and bravery to accomplish what he needs for himself and his family,” Rhodes told TFK. Rhodes is a writer who really cares about her young readers—and young characters like Will. “I want to give [young people] nothing but my best, because that’s what they deserve,” she said. Rhodes also told TFK she “firmly believes that young people are so loving and so interested in fairness and equity.” That’s partly why she decided to write this book for them.

In Will’s Race for Home, kids can learn about the difficult things that people of color had to go through during the time of the Emancipation Proclamation. You’ll learn a lot by reading this book—but you’ll also enjoy a great read, full of adventure and dramatic twists and turns.