Building the Transcontinental Railroad: An Interactive Engineering Adventure

by Steven Otfinoski

Overview

You live in a United States on the move in the 1860s. The government gives two railroad companies the Central Pacific and Union Pacific the job of building the first transcontinental railroad. This railroad will unite the country and allow people to travel west to pursue new lives and opportunities. Will you: Toil as a Chinese worker for the Central Pacific? Work as an Irish laborer for the Union Pacific? Serve as an engineer for the Central Pacific in the final race to complete the railroad? Experience situations taken from real life. YOU CHOOSE what you'll do next. The choices you make will either lead you to success or to failure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491428894
Publisher:	Capstone Press
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Series:	You Choose: Engineering Marvels Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Steven Otfinoski has written more than 150 books for young readers. Three of his nonfiction books have been chosen Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library. Steve is also a playwright and has his own theater company that brings one-person plays about American history to schools. Steve lives in Connecticut with his wife, who is a teacher. They have two children, two dogs, and a cat. When he's not writing he enjoys swimming, tennis, reading, and singing in his church choir.

Editorial Reviews

Otfinoski shows readers how events from the past look different from three points of view. Perspectives on history are as varied as the people who lived it. In this traditional “you choose” book, young readers are in charge of events and can determine which path to take. Everything in this book actually happened to real people. Chapter one sets the scene and from there it is up to the reader to choose which path to read. Set in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railroad Act. The government assigns two private railroad companies the job of completing 1,775 miles of railroad across the United States, the dream of Americans for many years. Readers must choose which type of worker to become: a Chinese worker for the Central Pacific; an Irish laborer for the Union Pacific; or an engineer for the Central Pacific. Readers must consider if they have what it takes to sleep outside or if they will grab a rifle and protect themselves or run and hide in a nearby ravine? As the action and tension builds, they are in control of your choices. If a fatal choice is made, or simply a change of mind happens, no worries! Just go back and choose another path in the story. With “you choose” books, readers need to follow directions by choosing their own story path. Taking an alternative path for more adventures leads to more reading time, making these types of books highly encouraged for reluctant readers. Reviewer: Denise Hartzler; Ages 8 to 12.

Children's Literature - Denise Hartzler

11/01/2014
Gr 5–8—These "Choose Your Own Adventure"—style books invite readers to assume roles as architects and builders of sites that set historical records in their magnitude. A bit of introductory history is followed by a stop-and-start account that asks readers to flip to different pages based on the choices they make. The fragmented nature of the series can be confusing, and despite the creative take on the topic, some of the writing is on the dry side. Readers who perservere will be presented with a grim, realistic view of the human cost of these large-scale projects (many of the options end with the death or dismissal of the worker) and some interesting sketches of history. Two "Further Paths to Explore" suggest exercises in reading and writing to aid students with key ideas and details. More ambitious than appealing, these will best serve as supplemental material for classroom units dealing with famous structures.

School Library Journal