Book Review of
Under the Painted Sky
All Samantha wanted was to move back to New York and pursue her music, which was difficult enough being a Chinese girl in Missouri, 1849. Then her fate takes a turn for the worse after a tragic accident leaves her with nothing and she breaks the law in self-defense. With help from Annamae, a runaway slave she met at the scene of her crime, the two flee town for the unknown frontier.
But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls. Disguised as Sammy and Andy, two boys heading for the California gold rush, each search for a link to their past and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. Until they merge paths with a band of cowboys turned allies, and Samantha can’t stop herself from falling for one. But the law is closing in on them and new setbacks come each day, and the girls will quickly learn there are not many places one can hide on the open trail.
Lynn's Review
Under the Painted Sky is the second book by Stacey Lee that I have read this year. This was a great YA book. I don’t read a lot of YA, but this book caught my attention because it is about the Orgon Trail.
The book is about two girls, disguised as boys, traveling on the Oregon Trail as they head to CA. They meet friends, enemies, and interesting characters along the way.
I grew up in Oregon. We learned a ton about the Oregon Trail in school. As an adult, I have also read quite a few fiction and nonfiction books about the Oregon Trail. I am not sure how accurate Under the Painted Sky is, but I can see how many aspects of the book could actually have happened.
I do think this one of for older YA. This isn’t a book I would give a young teen to read.