Gold Mountain by Betty G. Yee

 

Publisher: Carolrhoda

On Sale Date: April 5 2022

Pages: 288

I reviewed a review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com

China, 1867; Tam Ling Fan is a 15 year old girl who lives with her aunt. Her father, a magistrate, has just been imprisoned after being falsely accused of treason, and her twin brother Jing Fan recently died of influenza. Her family now expects Tam Ling Fan to follow her duties as a young woman, and to marry a rich husband who can maybe help them with their influence to free her father. But Tam Ling Fan secretly has a better idea; Jing Fan, just before he passed away, had a ticket and ship boarding pass to travel to America and to work, along many other Chinese people during that time, at the Transatlantic Railroad. Tam Ling Fan cuts of her hair, puts on her brother's work clothes, and in disguise, boards a ship to the United States, and her hope is to earn enough money to free her beloved father. But she underestimated how hard and also dangerous the work at the railroad is, and how long she has to work to earn enough. It is crueling work for the Chinese laborers to build the railroad that will  connect the west coast to the east. During extremely long days, Ling Fan and her coworkers lay the tracks, and blast tunnels through the mountains and peaks of the Sierra Nevada, which isn't without danger, along with bad treatment and hostility from the white Americans and their bosses. And then someone, who became her friend, discovers Ling Fan's secret that she isn't a boy, and threatens to expose her...

Gold Mountain is a impressive historical book for young readers about the Chinese laborers that worked on the Transatlantic Railroad in the past, through the eyes of the heroic Tam Ling Fan. Somehow the story reminded me a bit of Mulan, which was another heroic girl disguising as a boy to help her family. The author weaves real and important historical facts into a compelling story that is hard to put down What I loved most was that Tam Ling Fan stayed strong, no matter what difficulties came on her path, and she stayed focused to help her father. A main character that you start to love because she is so hard working and kind.

I loved every minute of this breathtaking book, about a topic that is often minimized or erased from history.