I Witness: Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859: A Tale of the Old West (I Witness Novels) [Hardcover]

Avi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: I Witness Novels

Early Whitcomb's family needs a miracle.  Their Iowa farm has been in the family for generations, but a long drought has withered their savings and left them in debt.  Meanwhile, the great Chicago and Northwestern Railroad wants their land, and if the Whitcombs can't pay their loans, the local banker, Judge Fuslin, will foreclose and sell the farm as his own.  

 

Early's uncle (though he's more like a brother), Jesse, thinks he has the solution: to head West and dig for gold. Fueled by reports of prospectors striking it rich in the Rocky Mountains, Jesse can't think about anything but gold, and his determination to get to the western territories grows stronger by the day.  Early is wild to go with him, as much for the adventure as for the gold.  But the journey costs money--more than the boys can afford--and when Jesse flees during the night, after being accused of a robbery, Early doesn't know what to believe. 

 

Then Jesse sends an electrifying message--that he has found gold, but his life is in danger--and Early knows he must do whatever it takes to find him, even if it means running away and joining a wagon train with a strange family.  The journey is dangerous and full of hardships, and the closer the travelers get to their destination, the more ruined lives they encounter--lives consumed by the hunt for gold.  Then to his horror, Early learns that Jesse has been accused of another, much bigger crime and has fled to a secret place in the mountains.  Somehow, Early must get to him without leading Jesse's pursuers right to his door.  And even if he succeeds, Early will still have to make the hardest choice of his life. 

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–7—Fourteen-year-old Early Whitcomb's family is trying desperately to hold onto their Iowa farm during hard times. The local banker is pressuring the Whitcombs to sell their land to the Chicago and North Western railway, promising to foreclose on their mortgage if they refuse. This prompts Early's Uncle Jesse, 19, to head west and find gold, disappearing under suspicion of bank robbery. After he writes that he has found gold but suspects that it will be stolen, Early sneaks away and signs on to a wagon train destined for Cherry Creek and Pike's Peak. A representative of the railroad is also traveling with the wagon trains, and the boy suspects that he wants to find Jesse and prevent him from helping his family save the farm. Early makes an unlikely ally in Lizzy Bunderly, the free-spirited daughter of his wagon-train employer, and the two friends face heartache, hardship, and loss while learning the value of endurance on this journey that takes them across the wild, unsettled territory. The novel deals with difficult times in the life of a young person, but emphasizes Early's optimism and hope for better days. The lessons he learns as a result of the choices he makes, as opposed to those made by his uncle, reveal the importance of making decisions wisely. The period reproductions add much to the understanding of an earlier way of life. The chapters are short and broken up into diary format so as to mimic travel journals of the early wagon train adventurers. A rewarding addition.—Debra Banna, Sharon Public Library, MA
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From Booklist

The I Witness series strives to make history more appealing by presenting fiction decked out with an array of nonfiction trappings: maps, diagrams, period photographs, and a multitude of paintings. This entry opens with a classic western setup: an unscrupulous banker tries to force the Whitcomb family off their farm, thus making way for the railroad snaking its way across the country. Young Early and his uncle Jesse hear rumors of a gold strike out in the Rocky Mountains, and see an angle to save the family farm. Jesse takes off without warning and sends word back that he’s struck it rich but is being threatened by thieves. Determined to help him, Early hits the trail with a migrating family and discovers how gold fever can change even the best of men. The beginning and end of the story provide good excitement, but the middle section, the dull Nebraska crossing, is stretched a bit too thin. Still, the detailed, authentic touches of history and adventure are a good combination for readers who might resist straight nonfiction. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423105192
• ISBN-13: 978-1423105190
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Avi has published more than sixty books. Among them is Crispin: The Cross of Lead, winner of the 2003 Newbery Medal. Other novels with nineteenth-century settings, like The Traitors' Gate -- his grand nod to the work of Charles Dickens -- are listed before the title page, and include the Newbery Honor Book, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Avi and his family live in Denver, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gold Rush, September 1, 2010

By 

J. Aday "J. Aday Kennedy" (Mineola, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 (I Witness) (Paperback)

This is only the second book I've read by this author. I admire the writing style. His books are absorbing and highly entertaining. The character of Early, a fourteen year old boy is accurate and effortless. The young girl, Lizzy is precocious and bucks against the constraints of being a woman and acting "ladylike." The description of the prairie and barren heat sodden dessert enhance the feeling you are there beside Early.

I love a good historical fiction novel. T he gaggle of people travelling is rooted in the mid 1800's and steeped in the get rich dreams of the Gold Rush. The rush of people from the east settling the west in their drive for riches shows the price that was paid. From burying loved ones on the way, to having hard won gold stolen, to a buffalo stampede and people facing the possibility of losing their farms due to greed and progress (the railroad) are all portrayed and plunk readers down in the era of westward expansion and the Colorado Gold Rush.

Early experiences a heck of an adventure. Travelling in a wagon train to Colorado he gts his first sweetheart and learns how to fend for himself without his parents. The book is packed full of fiction adventure and historical fact.
The only drawback was I listened to an audio version and was deprived of artwork that could have added to the educational and entertainment of reading about the well told fictional history. Read for entertainment or to had to a section of history taught in a classroom.. the book is highly recommended.
'''' ½

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction for Tweens, May 27, 2010

By 

Tina Says "Tina Says" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: I Witness: Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859: A Tale of the Old West (I Witness Novels) (Hardcover)

Avi is one of those writers who has authored so many books about such a wide variety of subjects. I always marvel at how he is able to come up with yet another topic for a book. My library has a fairly large collection of his work, yet I have read only a few of them. A few weeks ago I picked up Hard Gold by Avi at the public library. My school doesn't own this one, and since it is historical fiction, it was calling my name. Set during the mid 1800's during the Colorado Gold Rush, I was able to learn a great deal about a topic in history I have heard of but never studied or read about.




As the story unfolds, Early is just fourteen years old, growing up on a farm in Iowa. His family is struggling to pay their mortgage due to the recent drought. The railroad company makes an offer to purchase their farm for a good sum of money, yet Early's father won't give in, hoping to pass down the farm to his oldest son, Adam. Early's uncle, Jess, who was raised by Early's parents, is older than Early, but more like a brother than an uncle. He has grand dreams of moving west to Pike's Peak to find gold. By doing so, he will be able to pay off the farm debt. No one is surprised when they find a note from Jess one morning telling them goodbye. However, they are surprised to find that the bank in town was robbed a few days before that, and that Jess is being considered a suspect. Now that he has run off, the authorities are sure he is the thief. Early can't get Jess out of his head and makes his own plans to head west. Things are much harder on the trail than he thought possible, but he makes the best of the situation, enjoying his time with Lizzie, the daughter of the family he was hired to help along the trail. There are many adventures along the way, as well as a bit of humor. Early still has one goal: reaching his uncle, despite what he is hearing from others when he starts asking after him.

This book included actual photographs and sketches of various aspects of life along the westward trail and the Colorado Gold Rush. Including these visual aids will be such a help to tween readers who may not be able to envision certain elements of this story because it is so different form our lives now. Sometimes historical fiction seems too difficult - so full of information and set in such an unfamiliar time period - that my students give up on it easily. Hard Gold is a very fast read and truly targeted at my fourth and fifth grade readers who should be able to understand the story and enjoy this period in our nation's history. While the ending seemed a bit predictable to me as an adult reader, it was still satisfying, and my student readers may not have the same feeling about the ending

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hard Gold Rush, May 1, 2011

A Kid's Review

This review is from: I Witness: Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859: A Tale of the Old West (Hardcover)

Hard Gold is about the relationship between Early and Uncle Jesse. Early thinks he knows everything about Jesse. Then he hears that Jesse robbed a bank, but Early doesn't believe that had happened. Then Jesse goes to Pike's Peak to find gold, and Early follows shortly after. This book is a great book for people who love action, reality, and a great fill of gold. I loved this book and couldn't put it down. Hard Gold has a great plot with tons of awesome characters.