Coolies

Yin. (2001). Coolies . New York: Philomel Books.

Coolies is about a grandmother telling her grandson a story of her great-grandfather and his brother. She tells the story of the two brothers who travel to San Francisco from China in the 1800s. They describe the hard work and labor they did while building the rail road tracks. The two brothers experience difficulties that they overcome together. They eventually send enough money home to have their family join them in America. The illustrations in the book really help the reader visualize what is going on in the story. 

This book is great to use because it gives history about China and America. There are several historical events that take place in the book so this would be great to use when talking about the building of the railroads in the United States in history class. This book also shows a lot of Chinese culture and traditions so it is very multicultural. It also shows how the Chinese were not treated fairly when building the rail roads because they weren't paid the same as Americans. The end of the book also points out the importance of honoring our ancestors which is important in every culture.