Gold Mountain
| Industrial Age |
|---|
 Gold Mountain
|
American History > Industrial Age > Westward Expansion
Working on the Transcontinental Railroad promises a fortune―for those who survive.
Growing up in 1860s China, Tam Ling Fan has lived a life of comfort. Her father is wealthy enough to provide for his family but unconventional enough to spare Ling Fan from the debilitating foot-binding required of most well-off girls. But Ling Fan’s life is upended when her brother dies of influenza and their father is imprisoned under false accusations. Hoping to earn the money that will secure her father’s release, Ling Fan disguises herself as a boy and takes her brother’s contract to work for the Central Pacific Railroad Company in America.
Life on “the Gold Mountain” is grueling and dangerous. To build the railroad that will connect the west coast to the east, Ling Fan and other Chinese laborers lay track and blast tunnels through the treacherous peaks of the Sierra Nevada, facing cave-ins, avalanches, and blizzards―along with hostility from white Americans.
When someone threatens to expose Ling Fan’s secret, she must take an even greater risk to save what’s left of her family . . . and to escape the Gold Mountain alive.
Emily's Review
This was such an immersive read. I felt like I was swept up in Ling's world, experiencing the hardships right along with her. Tam Ling Fan's father was wrongfully imprisoned. Knowing it is her family's only hope, she dresses as a boy and runs away to "Gold Mountain" with only one goal - to make as much money as possible as quickly as she can. But she could never have anticipated how difficult the experience would be. The stakes were high and it adds a level of tension to the story, making it hard to put the book down!
I found this story to be absolutely riveting. I loved Ling Fan as a character. She was so strong and determined, even when things seemed impossible she persevered. I'm always a sucker for a story about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy - that's a trope that will always work for me, and it was done very well in this story. I thought the author did a great job of showing what this time period was like, the rampant xenophobia, the dangers of working on the railroad, the intrigue and sabotage as the different railway lines competed to be the first to make it to Promontory Point.
This was a fantastic piece of historical fiction that could pair well with any American History curriculum. I recommend it for teens ages 14+!
Other Similar Books
Other suggestions on the subject of the Westward Expansion.
- You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Lewis and Clark (by: Morley, Jacqueline, LE, MG)
- You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer (by: Morley, Jacqueline, LE, MG)
- You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town (by: Hicks, Peter, LE, MG)
- You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pony Express Rider (by: Ratliff, Tom, LE, MG)
- You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Railroad (by: Graham, Ian, LE, MG)
- Westward Expansion: An Interactive History Adventure (by: Lassieur, Allison, MG)
- The Klondike Gold Rush (by: Shepherd, Donna Walsh, MG, UMG)
- Donner Dinner Party (by: Hale, Nathan, MG, UMG)
- A Sky Full of Song (by: Meyer, Susan Lynn, MG, UMG)
- The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure (by: Raum, Elizabeth, MG)
- Orphan Trains: An Interactive History Adventure (by: Raum, Elizabeth, MG)
- Bound for Oregon (by: Van Leeuwen, Jean, MG)
- The Oregon Trail: An Interactive History Adventure (by: Doeden, Matt, MG)
- Rodzina (by: Cushman, Karen, MG, UMG)
- The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (by: Cushman, Karen, UMG, YA)
- Hattie Big Sky (by: Larson, Kirby, UMG, YA)
- One Big Open Sky (by: Cline-Ransome, Lesa, UMG, YA)
- Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion (by: Sheinkin, Steve, YA, UMG)
- The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep (by: Wolf, Allan, YA, A)
- The Indifferent Stars Above (by: Brown, Daniel James, YA, A)
- Gold Mountain (by: Yee, Betty G., YA, A)
- Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers (by: Miller, Brandon Marie, YA, A)
- Lone Women (by: LaValle, Victor, A)
Other suggestions on the subject of Chinese Immigration.
- Coolies (by: Yin, Soentpiet, Chris, LE, MG)
- Brothers (by: Yin, Soentpiet, Chris, LE, MG)
- The Legend of Auntie Po (by: Khor, Shing Yin, MG, UMG)
- Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain (by: Freedman, Russell, UMG, YA)
- Dragon's Gate (by: Yep, Lawrence, UMG)
- Luck of the Titanic (by: Lee, Stacey, YA, A)
- Gold Mountain (by: Yee, Betty G., YA, A)
- Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America (by: Wong, David H.Y., YA, A)