What Made California the Golden State?: Life During the Gold Rush: A Who HQ Graphic Novel

Who HQ Graphic Novel Series

by Shing Yin Khor, Kass Gray (Illustrator), Who H.Q.

Discover what life was really like during the California Gold Rush in this powerful graphic novel written by National Book Award finalist and Eisner Award-winning creator Shing Yin Khor and illustrated by Kass Gray.

Presenting Who HQ Graphic an exciting new addition to the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series!

Explore the Gold Rush from the perspective of William Miller and Henry Garrison, two miners in the Sierra Nevada region, and uncover the often unrelenting conditions of the California gold mines. A story of community, determination, and the search for the American Dream, this graphic novel invites readers to immerse themselves into what life was really like during this pivotal period in American history--brought to life by gripping narrative and vivid full-color illustrations that jump off the page.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2024

About the author

Shing Yin Khor is a cartoonist and installation artist exploring the American mythos and new human rituals. A Malaysian-Chinese immigrant, and an American citizen since 2011, they are the author of two published books.

Reviews

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This was a well researched book with lots of information I didn't know, and Khor's illustrations are always appealing. I was hoping for more of a history about how the Gold Rush started and a brief overview. There was some of that in text in between chapters, but concentrated more on daily life with a good discussion of how the Gold Rush impacted indigenous peoples and people of color.The Who HQ Graphic Novels are a nice change of pace for readers who prefer this format. There are now several of these; Who Was the Man in the Air: Michael Jordan is super popular with my students.
https://www.whowasbookseries.com/grap...

[Goddess of Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gold Rush might have been a misnomer in the eyes of many...

This book explores the Gold Rush with an eye towards the realities of a very shiny sounding period in history.

People came, not just pioneers moving west, but immigrants from other countries as well, in search of nuggets believed to be just waiting for them in California. What they found was the difficulty of mining, small flakes of gold dust, expensive supplies... and an unexpected community of peers.

This book focuses on the people, and what life was truly like during the Gold Rush as opposed to the hype and dreams.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learn about the gold rush in the late 1800's through two friends as they try to strike it rich....with thousands of others in California. Having just won the Mexican-American war California became part of the USA and had an influx of people. The hope of finding gold brought many to the west coast ready to work hard and live hard...the dream of being rich driving them. Those who did make money were the ones selling mining tools and supplies to the ones struggling to look for gold.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (I liked it)

This was very informative but also very dry. I wasn't expecting the format (story of fictional characters interwoven with full pages of text explaining information about the time period). I think you can learn a lot from this graphic novel but it wasn't particularly entertaining and I was expecting it to do both.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent graphic novel with a lot of history of the Gold Rush. Through out there are pages of info on well known people in that era.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda boring? Gives all the right info.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed seeing a day in the life of a miner.

[JoJo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I had this when I was learning state history in fourth grade—doesn’t shy away from the harder-to-swallow realities behind the Gold Rush