by Stacey Lee
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 374 pages,
Young Adult Historical Fiction
"In 1845, Sammy, a Chinese American girl, and Annamae,
an African American slave girl, disguise themselves as boys and travel on the
Oregon Trail to California from Missouri."
When I think of the Oregon Trail, I think of long lines of
covered wagons. Stacey Lee does a great
job of giving a different view of the trip westward. I loved the diversity of the characters
(Chinese American, African American, Mexican, Irish), and I especially loved
how she wove the backgrounds of their different cultures into the story. For example, Sammy is always making
assumptions about people’s actions based on the Chinese zodiac. The fact that Sammy and Annamae are trying to
keep their gender a secret while traveling with cowboys added a fun twist to
the plot. The story is fast-paced and
full of Wild West adventure, with a little bit of romance thrown in for good
measure.
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