Author: Tana Reiff
For Gold and Blood tells the story of two Chinese brothers, Soo and Ping Lee, who, like many Chinese immigrants, left their home in China to go to California in 1851. They hoped to strike it rich in the Gold Rush and send money back to their family. In the gold fields, they make a big strike but are cheated out of it. After 12 years of prospecting, they split up. Soo joins the Chinese workers who build the Central Pacific Railroad, while Ping opens a laundry in San Francisco. With little to show for his work, Soo also goes to San Francisco. Both men face prejudice and violence. In time they join rival factions in the community of Chinatown, Ping with one of the Chinese Six Families and Soo with a secret, illegal society called a tong. The story ends after the 1906 earthquake. This dramatic historical novel portrays the complicated lives of typical immigrants from China and many other countries.
Hopes and Dreams is a series of dramatic historical readers for beginners. The hopes and dreams of the characters in these stories are a reflection of the hopes and dreams of virtually every group of people who have ventured from their homes to a new place for a new life in America. Each story and its characters reflect a part of the history of the United States. Yet, at the same time, each story is different; the characters face challenges, defeats and victories in the fields and factories of Southern California, the gold fields of the West, the construction of the railroad in Utah, Chinatown in San Francisco, the Deep South and Southside Chicago, and New York’s Little Italy.
Available free online, the teacher’s supplement includes the following:
- Brief plot summaries
- Discussion Questions for each chapter
- Historical photographs
- Detailed plot summaries
- Historical background
- Comprehension check: “What Did You Read” Form
- Book report form
- Word play activity
- Final Review Cloze activity
