Copyright Date:
1996
Edition Date:
2013
Release Date:
09/24/13
Illustrator:
Chan, Harvey,
Pages:
1 volume (unpaged)
ISBN:
1-554-98389-4
ISBN 13:
978-1-554-98389-6
Dewey:
E
Dimensions:
28 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist
Dark, glowing oil paintings illustrate a moving fantasy about the Chinese workmen who died far from home building the railroad through the mountains of North America. The story, first published in Canada, is told through the eyes of a young girl, Choon-yi, born to poor peasants in southern China. She has only one arm, and her mother rejects her, but her father loves her dearly and encourages her artistic gift. When she is 12, he leaves for America to work on the railway being built through the mountains. After two years he sends her money to join him, but when she gets there, she learns of his death. He appears to her in a dream and asks her to paint him on the train he built. The full-page paintings show her traveling on the hurtling engines; we see the power of the railroad and the sorrow of the men who died building it, their clothing stained with mud and blood. This is a book to use with Rhoda Blumberg's Full Steam Ahead: The Race to Build the Transcontinental Railroad (Reviewed November 1, 1996)
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ALA Booklist
Word Count:
1,890
Reading Level:
4.6
Interest Level:
2-5
Accelerated Reader:
reading level: 4.6
/ points: 0.5
/ quiz: 18675
/ grade: Lower Grades
Reading Counts!:
reading level:4.6 /
points:2.0 /
quiz:Q23668
Lexile:
740L
The story of a young Chinese girl who arrives in North America only to discover that her father has died building the railway. This powerful, unforgettable and multi-award-winning tale is based on the lives of the Chinese who settled on the west coast of North America in the early 1900s. Left behind in China by her father, who has gone to North America to find work, Choon-yi has made her living by selling her paintings in the market. When her father writes one day and asks her to join him, she joyously sets off, only to discover that he has been killed. Choon-yi sees the railway and the giant train engines that her father died for, and she is filled with an urge to paint them. But her work disappoints her until a ghostly presence beckons her to board a train where she meets the ghosts of the men who died building the railway. She is able to give them peace by returning their bones to China where they were born. Ghostly, magical and yet redeeming, this tale by Paul Yee is superbly illustrated by Harvey Chan. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
Common Core
STEAM
Graphic
Novel
High/Low
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Book
Large
Print
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Book
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Adult
Language
Mature
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Ebook
Ebook
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