A short while ago, I completed a fantabulous five meme, in which I talked about five books I recently read, planned to read, etc. I also added my own category, 'five things I want to see more of in YA poc lit'. After I made my list (need more paranormal, boarding school, athletes, inter cultural romance and cowgirls/cowboys/Westerns), I decided to make a list of the few books out there that fit my criteria. You can find my list of YA paranormals about poc here and my list of boarding schools books in which race is not the main issue here. The latest addition is a list of poc athletes. My goal is to list at least 10 suggestions. This week I'm listting Westerns about people of color. Originally I was just going to list historical fiction but maybe we can open it up a bit to the modern day (as long as it has a 'western' feel to it. Y'know? haha. What I mean is, the book can't just be set in the west, it should take involve farms/ranches/history/cobwboys/cowgirls/pioneers/anything else YA/MG Western). I could only come up with 5 so please help me out!
1. Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Walter (I read this book as a kid and had forgot all about until I recently found it in my house. Really cute and it talks about Black cowboys past and present!)
2. Valley of the Moon: the Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros (1846) by Sherry Garland
3. The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy, Trail of Tears, 1838 (My Name is America) by Joseph Bruchac
4. Blessing's Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson
5. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
6. The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner by Walter Dean Myers
7. Black Storm Comin' by Diane Lee Wilson
8. Wrango by Brian Burks
9. The Legend of Bass Reeves by Gary Paulsen
10. Geronimo by Joseph Bruchac
11. The Big Burn by Jeanette Ingold
12. Adventerous Deeds of Deadwood Jones by Helen Hemphill
13. Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Western YA in general seems to be kind of sparse, but I think I came across more MG when I was searching. Here are a few books I found:
ReplyDeleteThe Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner by Walter Dean Myers
Black Storm Comin' by Diane Lee Wilson
Wrango by Brian Burks
The Legend of Bass Reeves by Gary Paulsen
Jimmy Yellow Hawk by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve
Oh, HMMMMMM! Now I'm going to have to look up some of these books. Seriously, though, how is it that there are so few modern Western books with African American characters? I've come across a few Harlequins with black ranch hands, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteStill looking...