A story of the Black homesteader movement in the late 1800s, from the pov of three women. Told in verse, this intergenerational journey of a mother, her daughter, and a young woman who joins them is unforgettable.
Multiple pov’s is not my thing a lot of the time, but this worked so well for this book. Getting three different angles and experiences of the same journey really rounded it out, and painted a clear view of events and the feelings around them.
I thought it was so beautifully written and engaging.

I had all these grand plans to read and talk about so many novels in verse this month, and instead, here I am, talking about the first one on the last day of April. Alas. It’s a book worth talking about, though, so I’m not sorry about that!

I picked up a copy of One Big Open Sky on Netgalley. After reading the description of the story, I was hooked. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about the Black homesteader movement, so I love that this book explores that part of history.

Three women tell the story. First, we meet Lettie, the oldest daughter in her family, who has just learned about her parents’ plans to move from Mississippi to Nebraska, a journey of about 1500 miles. Lettie’s mom, Sylvia also shares her perspective, listening as her husband complains about the group’s leadership choices and dreams for the future. Philomena, a single woman on her way to Nebraska for a job as a teacher, joins the group, sharing space with Sylvia, Lettie, and their family.

It took me a few chapters to catch that Sylvia was Lettie’s mom. At first, I thought they were in two different families. Once I understood the relationship, though, the two perspectives on the same family gave me a more complete picture of what was going on and how each person felt about it.

Sylvia and Lettie have very different relationships with Thomas, Sylvia’s husband and Lettie’s dad, for example. They also have different fears and worries about leaving Mississippi.

Thank you, NetGalley and Holiday House for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome! I was immediately interested in the description of the book to read about homesteading during the early pioneer times from a black perspective. I deeply appreciate this book, simply due to the representation. This book would be a wonderful historical fiction choice for middle-grade students learning about subjects like slavery, racism and women's rights. It effectively conveys slavery's impact on the characters, especially the generational trauma, without the use of derogatory language.

Set in 1879, the story is told from multiple perspectives and follows Lettie, her two brothers Elijah and Silas and her mother Sylvia, led by their father, Thomas, the family leaves their home in Mississippi to follow his dream of owning his own homestead in Nebraska. Readers will learn about the hardships of this era as the characters experience tragedy and dangerous situations from which not all travellers survive.

An area to consider is the fact that this novel is written in free verse - heavy on the free. I found that the lack of punctuation sometimes clouded my comprehension.

Reminiscent of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, this is the story of Lettie, a young African American girl who is traveling across the West with her mother, father, little brother, and eventually, a young woman traveling to become a teacher in the new settlement. The story begins with Lettie's father being sold as a slave, then being freed, and wanting to go where he can own land and his family can be free. It is a difficult road and is told this way - rougher than the Little House books and geared toward older children, but it is told in a verse-like manner from the perspective of Lettie, her mother, and the teacher. I loved reading this and would enjoy reading it to my older grandchildren - I think it is very readable and also teaches so much history. This is a sad story, but ends with hope. I love that it is from the perspective of a family of color! I think this is destined to become a classic!

One Big Open Sky is a beautifully written middle-grade novel told from the perspective of three women about their treacherous journey to Nebraska. I have never read a full-length novel that used verses before, and although it does take some getting used to, it is well-utilized here.

We follow the story from the perspective of young Lettie, her mother Sylvia, and teacher Philomena as they navigate a world that was not made for them, striving to survive while clinging to the desperate hope of a better life. They travel from Mississippi to Nebraska, facing pregnancy, heartbreak, racism, and many other obstacles along the way. This story will keep you on the edge of your seat, hoping and rooting for Lettie's family and Philomena's safety and happiness.

Thank you to Holiday House for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

It's 1879, and Lettie is living sharecropper life in Mississippi, but her father was born into slavery, and he has big dreams for their future: there's land free for the claiming out west. So the family, packs everything they will take into a Conestoga wagon and join a group of other Black families to head through the dangers toward the promised land of Nebraska.

Told in blank verse, this is a thought-provoking and gripping story: there's danger and tragedy matched by the settlers' hope, but also despair. Like the Trail itself, the story leaves some behind while other forge a community during this hazardous adventure. The blank verse may prove a bit of a challenge for some readers, but award-winning Cline-Ransome puts so much power into these elegant, telegraphic lines that a reader must pause to savor the story.

This would make a great companion read for novels of the settlement of the west, like <I>Hattie Big Sky </I> and the <I>Little House</I> series, and offers a valuable and compelling perspective on this quintessential American bit of history.

Thanks NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

This was stunning and beautifully written. The plot was well-paced and captivating from start to finish. The characters were well-developed; complex, and intriguing. I highly recommend this beautiful telling of the power of family and love. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I grew up playing endless rounds of Oregon Trail. I loved seeing all the ways one could die on the journey, but I also loved planning the trip, and doing all the shopping to figure out what we'd need to survive. That game imprinted on me, and I often turn to stories about people journeying out west to start a new life as homesteaders. I haven't read many, however, that feature an all-black cast of characters.

Lesa Cline-Ransome wrote one of my absolute favorite books last year, For Lamb, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. The story begins with a family starting their journey west from Mississippi. We read from 3 perspectives - Lettie, her mother Sylvia, and a young teacher Philomena. I was surprised and pleased at how much depth the author put into this story. Novels in verse don't always work for me, I often find they need more story and can sometimes be hard to follow. But this story was so good I frequently forgot that I was even reading a novel in verse.

I think this would be a great addition to any US History curriculum or pioneering unit. I think it is best for ages 12+

One Big Open Sky is a thorough look into the journey of Lettie, a young girl born in the years not long after emancipation, and her family to claim homesteading land in Nebraska. The trip is long, arduous, and fraught with peril, and author Leas Cline-Ransome does not shy away from describing the kinds of issues faced by Lettie's family.

The story of this pioneering band opens with the family returning home after church , and Lettie questioning her father about his parents. Unfortunately, he bears the scars of being separated from them during childhood, as his family was sold off piecemeal as their master saw fit. We are immediately thrust into the emotion of the story, witnessing it through Lettie's eyes and having the benefit of her level of understanding.

The opening sets a tone that informs us of the adult character's motivation for setting out on the journey, while allowing us to familiarize ourselves with Lettie's perspective. Over the course of the tale, we see how her experiences affect her, how she grows and changes, and how the journey impacts the family and those they meet, like Philomena.

A novel written in verse, the writing has a lyrical quality, which serves to set a rhythm for the reader, while in some areas constraining the depths of details and characterizations. This leads to a balance in the narrative that, in this writer's opinion, works well.

Cline-Ramsome's choice to thoroughly explore the pioneer journey and include many of the harsh realities of such an experience, particularly the additional challenges that a Black family would have faced, was a worthy pursuit. One Big Open Sky is a work that has the potential to be as widely known as the Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. Such representation is welcome, and necessary, in the genre.

I started and finished this book on April 3 and I did enjoy the topic, the characters, and some of the writing style, but my download was filled with issues that should have been addressed during editing. On more than 20 pages I found an editorial comment to (close the space). When I read, I do not skim but read every word, therefore; those who speed read might have missed that. There were also a few typos, words with no spaces in between, and verses on the wrong line. That is why I am giving this book 3 stars; the verse structure was not a good choice for this historical fiction novel.

One Big Open Sky by Lesa Kline-Ransom (March 2024, Holiday House) is a free verse historical fiction novel about Black covered wagon pioneers in 1879. It features a young Black girl and her family, told from her perspective and that of her mother and another young woman. They journey from a sharecropping atmosphere in Mississippi to the open territory of Nebraska in a covered wagon. The journey is dangerous and difficult, but these young women find the strength to persevere and stand up to the men around them as they succeed in their journey and face the future.

It’s such a great premise and the characters are strong. But I found the book tedious to read. The free verse was almost completely devoid of punctuation. Dialogue is presented in italics. Without punctuation it was sometimes hard to follow who was speaking. The narration alternated among the three women. Although I liked the characters, the story, and the setting, the structure just made it difficult to read. I’ve read plenty of free verse novels, but this was not my style. The stanzas were too devoid of structure.

I'm always on board for books that explore lesser known parts of history. In this case we're looking at the westward movement of People of Color escaping the rise of Jim Crow laws in the south. As a verse novel it's more about impressions and emotions than events but still manages to deftly weave together three perspectives of the same events. Thought provoking more than thrilling.

One Big Open Sky is a novel written in verse. It took a bit for me to get into this saga of our early pioneers, but staying with it was worth the read.


The novel follows three individuals, : Sylvia, a mom, Lettie, her daughter and Philomena, a young woman taking on a new teaching job. The families traveling together are coming from Mississippi with hopes and dreams of prosperity and a new life in the West, where colored people are more accepted and where there are more opportunities for families of color to own and operate their own land. It's a long and arduous journey to North Platte, Nebraska, and the group encounters many hardships during the long journey.,


Sylvia, Lettie and Philomenia describe their personal perspectives of the journey and their thoughts on their hardships. During the trek across the land, wagons are attacked, food supplies run low, hazardous weather beats down, and friends and family are lost to death.


Philomena is a single: young, unmarried woman, seeking a new life as a teacher. She’s a mentor and role model for Lettie and some of the other children, and is not hesitant to speak what she thinks and encourages the young folks to do so as well.


Sylvia and Lettie; Sylvia is the mother of Lettie and her two brothers. Lettie finds and takes in a little dog named Sutter. I enjoyed the role the little dog played on this most difficult journey.


This book is a reminder of the hardships and sacrifices our ancestors made to etch out a better life as they settled the west.


This novel is a nice addition to any middle school library as a work of historical fiction set in 1879 as Black families traveled from Mississippi to Nebraska.

The cover is lovely and indicative of the beautiful landscapes they must have viewed while journeying.

Three women narrate a perilous wagon journey westward that could set them free—or cost them everything they have—in this intergenerational verse novel that explores the history of the Black homesteader movement.

1879, Mississippi. Young dreamer Lettie may have her head in the stars, but her body is on a covered wagon heading westward. Her father, Thomas, promises that Nebraska will be everything the family needs: an opportunity to claim the independence they’ve strived for over generations on their very own plot of land.

But Thomas’ hopes—and mouth—are bigger than his ability to follow through. With few supplies and even less money, the only thing that feels certain is danger.

I flew through One Big Open Sky! I've always enjoyed pioneer fiction and this book added an important perspective to the history of pioneering. I liked that this story didn't gloss over the hardships of traveling out west during this time period. Lesa Cline-Ransome does not shy away from death, illness, and wagon attacks. Although the author did a great job of highlighting the experience of pioneers, I wish she went into more detail about the Native American population at that time. I think this book would benefit with an informational note at the end about the history of pioneering and westward expansion. I liked that this book had three female protagonists. Each character brought a unique perspective to the story. I found Philomena's character the most inspiring. I will be recommending this book to patrons at my library, especially the hi-lo readers. Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, Holiday House, Peachtree, Pixel+Ink, and Lesa Cline-Ransome for the opportunity to read One Big Open Sky in exhange for an honest review.

This book is a hi-lo novel-in-verse, meaning it has high engagement and low readability level for readers. I read a ton of hi-lo, and this one was hard to get into. It didn't have quite the same rhythm as others I have read and took me a lot longer to finish than I expected.

The novel follows three women: Sylvia, a mom; Lettie, Sylvia's daughter; and Philomena, a young woman taking on a new teaching job. Coming from the Eastern states, they, among other families, seek a new life in the West, where colored people are more integrated and treated better, and where there are more plentiful opportunities for families to own and operate their own land. It's a long journey to North Platte, Nebraska, and the group encounters many hardships along the way.

The three women all share their perspectives of the journey and their thoughts on their hardships, including their wagons being attacked, their food supplies running low, hazardous weather, and loosing friends and family to death.

My favorite of the three is Philomena. She is a young woman, unmarried, really just seeking a new life as a teacher, but also learning she might be interested is marriage after all. She also proves  a mentor/role model for Lettie and some of the other children, not afraid to speak what she thinks and encourage the youth to do so as well.

The reader also gets to experience the mother/daughter relationship dynamic between Lettie and Sylvia. Lettie isn't the only child; she has two brothers too, though there is an emphasis on the power women can have without having to rely on men. Lettie finds and takes in a little dog, Sutter, and the relationship there is a special experience as well.

While not quite as easy to read as the greater majority of hi-lo's I have read, this novel offers a plethora of historical elements. It is a bit harder to picture or imagine some of what is going on in relation to the historical context, but there are certainly times, like crossing a river or braving harsh weather, where it is very evident the differences these people had to face in their travels compared to how the world is today. I actually really liked the end as well; it offers an insight into how people of color were viewed at the time, even in what might have been seen as a more liberal state, adding further weight to the importance of the historical elements in this novel.

This novel can make for a nice addition to any middle school library or even be taught in a middle school class. With guidance through the novel, there is so much for a young reader to learn.

Thank you so much to Holiday House and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Lettie and her family have a big change ahead of them as they start the trail from Mississippi to Nebraska to start a free life just for them. But the journey is long, it’s rough and not easy at all. Many sad and scary things happen throughout all to get to the promised land.

This was beautiful, harrowing, heartbreaking, and vivid. I was so swept away by this story and the wonderful characters we meet on this journey. I was expecting I would enjoy this story as I’ve read another book on this same topic of history and adored it, but I didn’t know I would fall so in love with this story and its characters.

Lettie our main protagonist a young black girl in 1879 tells us most of the story through her perspective, she starts off a very shy quiet girl with so much she wants to learn, so many thoughts in her head and so much sadness at leaving her beloved best friend behind. Throughout this journey she grows so much, she learns so much and becomes so strong and so brave. I really enjoyed her telling most of the story she was such an open girl, she had so many emotions and goes through so much loss in such a short space of time. She didn’t know once what was at the end of their journey but she loved her daddy and his dream.

We also met Philomena and Sylvia who were the other two protagonists sharing the journey from their perspective’s. I really enjoyed having their additions to it, learning their lives, who they were and how this journey was for them. Sylvia had to leave everything behind, she hadn’t ever thought about leaving and starting over, she hadn’t ever had to think on her own before, but after an accident she is left to be the lead caretaker of her kids and this journey , she becomes so much stronger even though she was heavily pregnant through the journey. Philomena who joins us further into the story is travelling to become a teacher, she’s always fended for herself, taught and worked alongside each other and become an independent woman. I really liked the contrast between these two and how they became family and helped each other so much.

This story told in verse was written so beautifully, it was stunning all the way through. I honestly really loved it from start to finish. I honestly could have read another load of it, of their journey as they tried settling into their new lives, of setting up their lands and how they grew and lived, but I suppose that would be a whole separate book. However I would read it as it would be as beautiful as this one was I’m sure.

This is such an important part of history, everyone knows about the Oregon trail but I’m certain not many people know about the black folks that travelled from Mississippi to Nebraska and the harrowing and long journey they all went on to find the promised land. This book is a perfect story for sharing that history, I think it’s a story that children studying history should read and should learn. I also think it’s suitable for anyone who wants to learn and enjoy reading about history to enjoy. It’s so beautifully done, it flowed well the characters were wonderful and it’s so easy to read.

A beautiful, poetic middle grade book with an important perspective. I really enjoyed this one for myself and recommend it!

This is an outstanding middle-grade novel in verse of a pioneer family journeying from Louisiana to Nebraska in search of a land to call their own and home.

A lyrical novel filled with emotion in the voices of three relevant women and perspectives.
Young Lettie is full of curiosity, and passion for learning, writing, and reading. She is always paying attention to every detail and taking notes.

Her mother Sylvia encourages her daughter to learn and write. Her wish is to become a woman of her own but she feels she doesn't have the courage. She supports her husband's dream of finding this new home.
And Miss Philomena, a young educated woman traveling on her own West to take a job as a teacher. She intends to be as independent as possible.

These black families will bet all on a treacherous journey against the elements and the cruelty of greedy men who attack them. They are brave in the name of hope and God.

The historical period is 1879 and their journey takes months. There are many historical references attesting to what the times were like. When it comes to defining the part men and women played.

Through Lettie (the youngest voice) we discuss the fact that women can't vote, they rely on a husband who secures, provides, and decides for them. But this journey proves that women are as strong as men or more and some do recognize their hard work and courage.

A story of family, found family, being there for each other, loss, and hope, with great dialogue true to their voices and characters. A great sample of a historically relevant period that in many moments is relatable still.

This book makes me think of the hardship they suffered on the road, many who perished became a grave on the path that would not be visited by their loved ones again. Also, there is always more we can learn and even the most educated ones continue to learn from the smallest things in life.

We understand that there was violence and death but it's appropriately and beautifully written poetically for young readers to take the emotion from it and not be exposed to the graphic part of it.

Because I've read an arc, I am going to say in my words some of the most important ideas(to me): the first is that to keep going we can't dwell on what stays behind, and we should look forward to tomorrow. We should always follow what we love because it's alright to dream, be independent, and fight for it. Last, those who are there when it matters the most in the darkest times holding us... are called family even when they are not of our blood.

Thank you publisher for the arc.

I’ll start my review by saying that I’m not a big fan of poetry, nor of multiple POVs, but even then I found this book to be surprisingly enjoyable. My favorite character was Lettie, because I found her POVs to be the most action and emotion packed, and Miss Pratt was my second favorite, because her POV was so different and added some emotional variety to the story. I like reading a few middle-grade books every year and I think this is a book that will appeal to a wide array of age groups and people.