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Before reading this book I did not know a lot about the construction of the transcontinental railroad. There were almost 12,000 Chinese laborers who were contracted to come to the United States and work on the railroad. As Tam Ling Fan experienced, the Chinese laborers were forced to work in very dangerous conditions for very little pay, up against vicious racism. This book presented me with an entire chapter of American History I missed.

I think that this book would work very well for a high school or late middle school classroom. I like the idea of incorporating this into a unit about Asian culture or countries, or about industrialization in the United States. There is a lot of really good options as to how this book could be used because it covers so much.

One thing that I really liked about this book is the juxtaposition of challenges that the main character faced in China and the United States. In both places the main character is up against a strict patriarchal system, however those systems look very different from place to place. The magnitude with which she struggled in China with disease, family separation, government influence, make her struggles in the United States seem so unnecessary.

This is my second book for the choice reading and I have very much enjoyed it. Gold Mountain is about a girl in 1860's era China. She is part of a semi-progressive, wealthy family and her father is wrongfully imprisoned. She must travel to the United States to work for the Central Pacific Railroad Company, disguised as a boy under her deceased brothers contract, and make an attempt to earn enough money to get her father released from prison.