Historical Fiction: Transcontinental Railroad

[This is a subtopic of The West and also part of an ongoing series of historical fiction book lists for students and teachers. For the full list and to see more info, click here.]

Lower Grades (K-3)

1. Buck Buckskin-Sargent (4.6/0.5)
2. Coolies-Yin (4.8/0.5)
3. Death of the Iron Horse-Goble (4.5/0.5)
4. Iron Horses-Kay (2.6/0.5)
5. Railroad! A Story of the Transcontinental Railroad-Bailer (4.0/0.5)

Middle Grades (4-8)

1. The Great Race: The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad-Mercati (3.5/1)
2. The Great Railroad Race:  The Diary of Libby West-Gregory  (5.7/5)*
3. The Iron Dragon Never Sleeps-Krensky (3.2/2)
4. The Iron Dragon: The Courageous Story of Lee Chin-Pryor (4.9/5)
5. The Journal of Sean Sullivan:  A Transcontinental Railroad Worker-Durbin* (5.9/5)
6. The Last Rail: The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad-Bailer (4.4/0.5)
7. Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad-Fraser (6.1/0.5) NF
8. To the Golden Mountain: The Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad-Perl (8.7/3) NF
9. Tracks-Wilson (6.5/10)

Middle Grades+ (6+)

1. Dragon’s Gate-Yep (5.3/10)

Upper Grades (9-12)

1. A Mark on History-Schraff (4.9/3) (1865)