The Great American Gold Rush

by Rhoda Blumberg

Paperback, 1989 136 p 11.00x8.50x0.40. THE REAL STORY ABOUT GOLD GOLD FEVER; THE FEVER SPREADS; PANAMA, NICARAGUA, MEXICO; THE CAPE HORN ROUTE AND MORE.

Genres: History

Paperback

First published September 30, 1989

About the author

Rhoda Blumberg has written about the opening of Japan (1853-1854) in Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, a Newbery Honor Book, which also won the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award and the Golden Kite Award. Her acclaimed histories also include The Incredible Journey of Lewis & Clark, The Great American Gold Rush, and The Remarkable Voyages of Captain Cook, all ALA Notable Books. She is the winner of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for her overall contribution to nonfiction.

Rhoda Blumberg says that while doing research for Commodore Perry, "I read about the ordeals and strange adventures of Manjiro, then spent years replaying his life story in my mind until I felt impelled to write about him."

The author and her husband, Gerald, live in Yorktown Heights, New York.

Reviews

[Jamierin Walters]

This book was so informational on the Gold Rush and how people got to California in order to participate in the craze. This book outlined the many routes on how the people from the East coast got to California and how these routes were never ideal. People were often stranded somewhere in South America or in Panama and they either went back home or just stayed there for the next boat. But it also outlines how the gold was first discovered in California on some dude’s land. He was not all that great anyways because of how he treated his residents and the Native American people that he enslaved. I usually avoid nonfiction books because I never know what to expect and they are typically dry but I really liked this one. It was interesting to learn about the struggles and how it was actually rare for someone to find gold. Only a select few were able to become rich. I would use this book as a required read if I were to be teaching about the American Gold Rush because it is not too dry or too thick where students would immediately lose interest.

[Kathleen]

CML