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:	9781491404065
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	07/01/2014
Series:	You Choose: Engineering Marvels Series
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
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.

Table of Contents

From coast to coast — A path through the mountains — Crossing the great plains — Race to the finish — A nation united.

Editorial Reviews

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