Review of the Day: Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes

I decided that I would look for a few children’s novels to celebrate Black History Month this February. I found a list of the best middle grade novels of 2025  on the school library journal website and this book looked promising. Rhodes novel is a Western set in 1889 and the main characters are a 12 year old black boy named Will and his formerly enslaved father. The book is definitely heavy on the adventure with thieves, near drowning, poisonous snakes, outlaws, shootouts at high noon, a reference to the movie Shane, and a mysterious ex-soldier named Caesar. 

The basic plot is that Will and his father are coming from Texas to try and grab some farmland that is now becoming available. As I said, adventures abound and this might be a good book for reluctant readers.

If Rhodes book has a flaw it is the lack of acknowledgment of the indigenous people who lost the land that is now becoming available. But the book has many strengths, the most important being that it is one of the few middle grade novels where a Black boy can see someone like himself on the cover — and a real badass at that. As I said, the book is filled with adventures. And it is great to see a story of positive masculinity as we see Will and his father bond on the journey.

And here is my favorite set of sentences:

I’ve learned silence sometimes speaks more than words. Silence hides secrets, holds back fears, but it also binds with loyalty and love. 

Adventure isn’t just outside me, it’s inside me. Inside Father, Caesar (p. 94).

Overall, this is the best middle grade novel I have read in months. Great story!

Kindle and LibroFM audiobook. 202 pgs. 12 February 2026.