Chinese Railroad Workers (First Book) [Library Binding]

Susan Sinnott (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Sinnott details the importation of Chinese workers, the expectations and treatment of them, and their astonishing feats in building the western end of the transcontinental railroad. The clear and lively text make this a good source for reports or pleasure reading. It is illustrated throughout with black-and-white archival photographs and full-color reproductions. The cover illustration of a train emerging from a snow shed in the high Sierras above Donner Lake, circa. 1866, is particularly appealing. However, flatlanders from the Rockies to the Atlantic, who have never seen the Sierras and who do not know of the Donner party, its tragedy, and the locale of this tragedy, may have a tough time understanding allusions to these essential bits of information. Unfortunately, there is only one map-too tiny to yield details. Dan Elish's The Transcontinental Railroad (Millbrook, 1993) is better illustrated in this regard.
George Gleason, Department of English, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. Despite the title, this account is more about the big planners, financiers, and construction bosses than about the Chinese laborers who built the Central Pacific Railroad. As is usual in the First Book series, the design is accessible, with clear type, black-and-white photos, and some contemporary paintings reproduced in color. The construction of the transcontinental railroad across the U.S. is an exciting part of history, and Sinnott gets across the drive of the technology, the formidable obstacles overcome, the excitement of the competition. She discusses the discrimination toward the Chinese immigrants and devotes a page to their unsuccessful 1867 strike against backbreaking working conditions. But, except for a brief quote from Maxine Hong Kingston about her father, there's almost nothing here about how the Chinese Americans saw themselves: what they thought and felt about their daily lives, laying tracks across the Sierra Nevada and through the tunnels, far from home. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 63 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531201694
• ISBN-13: 978-0531201695
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good description of the role of Chinese labor in the American west, January 25, 2009

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chinese Railroad Workers (First Book) (Library Binding)

One fact that is generally overlooked in American history is the ethnic and racial diversity of the people in the west. The Native American term "buffalo soldier" used to refer to the U. S. cavalry was not due to their shooting buffalo but because the black soldiers reminded them of buffalo. A large percentage of cowboys were black and of course the area was part of Mexico before it was ceded to the United States at the end of the Mexican war. Finally, most of the labor that built the railroad moving eastward from California was Chinese coolie labor.
Imported from China at a time when labor was desperately needed, the Chinese proved to be strong and willing backs when things needed to be moved. Tunnels had to be blasted through mountains, shelves had to be carved in the sides of mountains and sheds had to be built to protect the tracks from snow. This book is a simple, yet thorough description of the role the Chinese laborers had in making a railroad that went from one side of the country to the other. Generally discriminated against when they weren't working, most of the Chinese laborers stayed in the United States after the railroad was built and formed ethnic enclaves or "Chinatowns."
The only part of the book that I disliked was the last few pages where the topic went to ghost stories about phantom Chinese seen by travelers on the train. The Chinese were an integral part of the settling of the United States and that is the point that should be emphasized.