Grade 4–6—Twelve-year-old Lee Chin, his father, and his cousin Yi have come to America to help build the transcontinental railroad. After a harrowing Pacific crossing, Lee Chin is placed as a cook's assistant in a Chinese labor camp. He is a bright, hardworking, observant person who dreams of using his earnings to rescue his little sister, Sunshine, who has been sold into slavery by his father. Lee Chin finds that Americans can be both inhospitable to the Chinese and capable of kindness. He describes the hard and dangerous work the Chinese do for the Union Pacific Railroad. Yi is killed in an accident involving the use of nitroglycerin during the work on the Summit tunnel. Lee Chin's tale is compellingly told as he shows imagination and tenacity, befriends Americans, and makes the best of the opportunities offered to him.
