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5 YA Reads for Fans of the Wild West
I don’t know about you guys, but I love a good Western. Especially because the concept of a western, and the Wild West altogether, is so wide open for interpretation. It doesn’t have to take place among tumbleweeds and saloon doors, with that same song playing every time a showdown is about to happen. High noon? Psh. How about set on one of Mars’ moons?
Just saying, the concept of a western is a certain feeling, not just a setting. The open plains. Wild adventure. Risking everything for a shot at something better. Let’s take a look at some YA westerns that don’t just take place on the American frontier, but jump into fantasy realms and take off into outer space.
Under a Painted Sky, by Stacey Lee
A powerful friendship on the open trail is at the heart of Stacey Lee’s beautiful debut novel, with a diverse cast of characters on a heart-wrenching adventure. There’s Samantha, who abandons her dream and flees for her life with a runaway slave, Annamae. Disguised as boys, the two push forward, wrestling with their past as they search for a future. From the romance to the humor to the heart, there’s something for everyone in this debut, and I seriously can’t wait to read more historic YA from Lee. Outrun the Moon is due out in May, and I’d like it right now, please.
Vengeance Road, by Erin Bowman
Surely you’ve read Bowman’s incredible Taken trilogy, yes? If not, fix that ASAP. Vengeance Road, is a pretty big departure from her thrilling trilogy, substituting dystopia and sci-fi for the frontier and the Wild West. And it is awesome. Reading like a YA adaptation of True Grit, Vengeance Road tells the story of Kate Thompson, a teen girl who disguises herself as a boy to avenge her murdered father, who was killed for his journal that reveals the location of a secret gold mine. And justice isn’t the only thing on the line: Kate’s life, and the lives of the friends she makes along the way, are in danger as they’re pursued for the golden secret they’re guarding.
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Walk on Earth a Stranger, by Rae Carson
The Gold Rush! A famous (and infamous) bit of history here in America, with people, well, rushing their way across the country in hopes of striking it rich. But what would happen, in this era of lies, deceit, murder, and desperation, to someone who had the ability to sense gold? From gold hidden deep beneath the ground to just a little bit of dust? That’s Lee Westfall’s gift…and curse. Because what wouldn’t a gold-hungry 49er do to control someone like her? This incredible novel came out just last fall, and there are sequels heading our way.
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Revenge and the Wild, by Michelle Modesto
Modesto’s debut hit shelves just this week, and you want to get your hands on it right now. Westie is the adopted daughter of a local inventor, with a mechanical arm and a thirst for vengeance. She’s wild, and she’s haunted by memories of her family, slain by cannibals on the road to Rogue City, a place as full of magic as it is of pistols. Now, if your eyes are widening at the mechanical arm, the inventor, and magic…good. This here’s a different western, and we’re all about it.
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Black Hole Sun, by David Macinnis Gill
I know, I know, Gill’s trilogy isn’t really set in the Wild West. But it sure feels like it, so I’m including this one as a bonus pick. If you’ve never read Gill’s underrated Hell’s Cross series, it’s essentially a Wild West story that happens to take place on Mars. Ever watch Firefly? It’s like that, spot on, just for a YA audience and with more robots and wilder technology. Readers are swept away to a red planet and a dark future, where terraforming has created a futuristic frontier, where scavengers, bandits, and mercenaries eke out a living terrorizing the innocent. In the middle of it all is Durrango, a wisecracking gun-for-hire that might be the key to saving the planet from the people who rule it.