Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. It follows Leah Wesfall during the goldrush era. Lee as she is known for much of the book, has a talent for finding gold. It calls out to her whenever she's near. Only Lee's parents know about her gold finding talent, which is both a blessing and a curse. As the residents get wind of the gold in California, Lee's parents are murdered, leaving Lee in the care of her estranged Uncle Hiram. Lee decides that she has to escape her Uncle's clutches and set off to find her best friend Jefferson and make it to California where her gold sense will be useful.

The only way Lee can think of to get to California safely on her own is by pretending to be a boy, so Leah becomes Lee and she makes her way west. She is hired by a prominent family to help out on their journey to California to stake their own claims. Lee's journey to find Jefferson and escaper her uncle is not without peril. The wagon train they are travelling with has a group of unsavory characters, who will leave you to die if you don't move quickly enough on the trail. The trail itself is dangerous enough and any illness, injury, or other emergency can set the whole group back. The men in charge don't like setbacks, as setbacks can cause more problems. As the story unfolds it becomes harder and harder for Lee to conceal her true identity and to keep her opinions to herself. As a woman she is fairly self suffient, but she learns that society has determined that she can’t own anything or have any rights without a husband. Her best friend Jefferson is in the same boat because his mother was a Cherokee Indian, as half Native American he has almost no rights. This was true of the time, and Carson touches on many of the racial and sexist issues that existed in that time period.

This book really reminded me of playing Oregon Trail in elementary school. I spent hours playing that game and trying to keep my electronic wagon trail family alive. I loved that game, so this book brought back happy memories of playing that game, but it was also respectful of the actual gravity of the situation that the true pioneers faced as they traveled west to find their fortunes.

I highly recommend the audiobook!


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