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Kristiana Gregory
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The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory 1868 (Dear America Series) Hardcover – April 1, 1999

by Kristiana Gregory (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 56 ratings
As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, fourteen-year-old Libby keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the railroad in the West in 1868
Previous slide of product details
  1. Reading age
    9 - 12 years
  2. Part of series
    Dear America
  3. Print length
    204 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    4 - 6
  6. Lexile measure
    970L
  7. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
  8. Publisher
    Scholastic Inc.
  9. Publication date
    April 1, 1999
  10. ISBN-10
    059010991X
  11. ISBN-13
    978-0590109918
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-In 1868, 14-year-old Libby West and her family leave Denver for Cheyenne. Her father and his young friend Pete are working as "stringers," eyewitness reporters covering the race to complete a transcontinental railroad. In her diary, Libby records her observations and her family's adventures as they follow the Union Pacific builders. The author does a good job of integrating information about the period into the story and depicting the girl's confusion over which of the many conflicting news stories to believe about the railroad. Both plot and characters are well developed. Readers will enjoy Libby's friendship with Ellie, a girl she meets on her travels, and the beginnings of her romance with Pete. While the diary ends on the last day of the race, an epilogue relates what happened to the fictional characters. The book concludes with a historical note that provides background information and black-and-white pictures from the period. For fans of this and the "American Girl" series (Pleasant Co.).
Cathy Coffman, Sunrise Mountain Library, Peoria, AZ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-8. An appropriately workmanlike telling of the building of the transcontinental railroad from the point of view of 14-year-old Libby, daughter of a "stringer," a reporter who follows the railroad, sending back stories. Libby's father buys a handpress to start his own paper in the tent cities that grew up along the building of the railroad. Libby's mother has insisted on the family's staying together, so she, Libby, and Libby's little brother leave Denver to travel with Libby's father. Although the press fails, and Libby's dad reverts to stringer status, Libby fills her diary with the sights and sounds of the busy (and dirty) tent cities, the new words she learns, and her wonderment at glimpses of Indians, Chinese, and Pete, the shy, young former Union soldier imprisoned with her father at Andersonville and now an inseparable companion. The language is not so lively as, for example, that in Sherry Garland's A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary (1998), but a lot of historical information finds its way into the tale, with the Dear America series' usual fine historical footnotes, illustrations, and background appended. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Inc. (April 1, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 204 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 059010991X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0590109918
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 970L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 6
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 56 ratings

About the author

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Kristiana Gregory

Kristiana Gregory

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*** NEW Free study guides written by the author: www.kristianagregory.com ***

Kristiana Gregory has published more than 30 children's books with Scholastic, Harcourt and Holiday House, and has now ventured into self-publishing with her memoir "Longhand: The Rise and Fall and Rise of My Career as a Children's Book Author."

She grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the beach and she always loved to make up stories. Her first rejection letter at age eleven was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times.

Kristiana and her husband live in Idaho with their golden retriever, Poppy. Their two adult sons visit often. In her spare time she loves to swim, hike, watch clouds, read & hang out with friends, and tap dance. For all her titles, please visit her website: www.kristianagregory.com

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
56 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Bank Of America
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great story in historical America
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    This was a very wonderful book to read that's all about how the railroads were connected together of where they are today. But, back then it was so amazing how hundreds of men worked through hard labor so that we could travel to certain destinations. This would be a book to enjoy reading to the whole family or just read to yourself.
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  • Beth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read for kids
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    My kids love these books can't wait to purchase more
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It was a good book to read and learn more stuff.
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  • Maria Teresa Carbajal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Great price and great book, I highly recommended it.
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  • Ana Mardoll
    5.0 out of 5 stars Frankly Informative
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2008
    The Great Railroad Race (Utah Territory) / 0-590-10991-X

    Another wonderful Dear America book - this one covers the race to connect the opposite ends of the country with a single railroad. Our narrator here is the daughter of an intrepid journalist, who hopes to strike it at least semi-rich by being one of the few to cover the story first-hand. While I recommend the Dear America series for both children and adults, I recognize that the series is primarily marketed towards young children, and I will follow my usual reviewing pattern for marking out things a parent might wish to be fore-warned about.

    There's wonderful history to be had here, and the first-hand account of watching the railroad being built is wonderful. The narrator details the cooperation between former Union and Confederate soldiers, and treats with fairness and dignity the situations of the American Indians (who are being displaced by the railroad) and the Chinese immigrants (who are working under harsh conditions to build the railroad). The hasty and sometimes slip-shod manner in which the railroad is assembled is highlighted and the reader will marvel that the end product worked at all. Also much appreciated here is the strong characterization of the narrator's mother - she insists that the entire family will travel with her wanderlust-driven husband, and that is that. It is later revealed that she knows as much about the printing and editing of a newspaper as her worthy husband, and the two make a good team out on the frontier, a welcome change from the standard "mother does the housework and not much else" theme often found in historical literature.

    Some things which may not be age appropriate for all children include the death of a small boy who places a penny on the rail tracks only to be killed by the high velocity of the shooting penny when the train strikes it. This is also one of the most 'sexually explicit' of the Dear America novels I have read - the narrator and her friend sneak into the bad part of one of the shanty towns one night and are accosted by drunk men who want to force them to 'dance'. It is only by kicking their way free that the girls are able to escape, and they are very frightened by the experience. Also, Mormons are heavily featured in this installment, with the narrator spending a good deal of time in Salt Lake City and meeting Brigham Young. Our narrator is very interested in how a man can have multiple wives, and she is very distressed to learn that several of her female cousins have entered into plural marriages. She also meets a few Mormon girls her age who wish to be friends. Children may share the narrator's confusion about this complicated issue.

    There is one slightly odd thing about this story. A character named "Pete" is featured; Pete is a bearded, stinky old man who lives with the narrator and her family. He served in the war with her father and saved his life and now lives alone with the family, rarely speaking unless spoken to. When the narrator decides to be kind to Pete, in spite of his stench and ugly looks, Pete shaves his beard and suddenly becomes a very attractive, charming nineteen-year-old. This magical Beauty and the Beast transformation is extremely disconcerting to the reader, if not to the narrator (her adjustment to this new love interest takes a mere 24 hours). Pete has been living with the family under frontier conditions with very little privacy for clothing changes, bodily functions, and basic attempts at washing, and it does seem strange that the 15-year-old narrator wasn't cautioned by her otherwise prudent mother that Pete was quite a bit closer to her age than she had realized. It isn't, I suppose, a big deal, but I found it very odd, and parents may as well.

    ~ Ana Mardoll
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Dana
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Excitement With Libby and her Friend
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2001
    In the beginning of the book they are at home. About 1 week later they leave their house. The people leaving from this household are Libby, her brother Joe, her mother, her father, and her dad's friend Pete. Libby thought Pete was her Fathers age. She found out he was turning 19 pretty soon. She just started liking Pete when she found out his age. She wanted to hold him in her arms. Their father is a newspaper reporter. He has to report on the railroad race. People get paid a lot of money to work on the railroad. The railroad goes across the U.S. People in California and the people in Wyoming will meet. Who ever had the most track is the winner. When they got Wyoming where the railroad race started her little brother Joe was very bad. Joe would not listen to anything. He got in trouble about every day. His parents decided to give him a job. His job was to carry water out to the workers. They needed water every hour.
    Libby had met a girl where she was. The girl was rich but friendly. Libby liked her. The two girls' parents became friends. The girl that Libby met was from the same school as Libby and she had seen her before. The girl Libby met lives in a mansion.
    The two girls were not allowed to enter the town right next to where they were. They wanted to no why but their parents wouldn't tell them. They decided to figure it out themselves. That both girls sneaked out of their houses and walked over to the town. They heard noises but it was to dark to see anything. So they went a little closer and all of a sudden they were grabbed by two guys and drug into a room where there was loud music and many people singing and dancing. Libby was taken in a back room by the guy that grabbed her. Both of the girls were scared. A little while later they got away and took off running. Then Libby's dad heard them scream. He came running. He promised he wouldn't tell their mothers. They went home.
    To find out more read the book!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Melanie
    5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific "Dear America" book!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2000
    "The Great Railroad Race" was another terrific "Dear America" novel, in an 1868 diary form about 14 year-old Libby West .
    Libby's father, a newspaper reporter, decides to travel west with the growing Union Pacific Railroad, for the chance to publish his own newspaper. Libby's mother refuses to stay behind in Denver, however, so the whole family goes along.
    The story of Libby's time out west was very descriptive and interesting to read, with her making new friends, falling in love with her father's assistant, and helping her family. It was also pretty humorous at times! :)
    I'd definitely recommend this book for ages 11 and up, to anyone who likes history, romance, adventure, or just a great read! Be sure to also read the "Dear America" books "Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie" and "West to a Land of Plenty", and also the "My Name is America" book "The Journal of Sean Sullivan".
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Meghan U.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Learn what it was like to be "working on the railroad"
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2014
    In history class I learned the basic facts about the Transcontinental Railroad but I did not know what happened along the way or what life was like for the railroad workers. This book provided that for me. I wasn't completely enamored with the romance.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Laura O'Reilly
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of the better ones
    Reviewed in Canada on December 30, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This was okay, not one of the greater books. The plot was a little thin and the characters weren't well developed. I wouldn't read it again.
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