History Comics: The Transcontinental Railroad: Crossing the Divide

History Comics

by Andy Hirsch

Turn back the clock with History Comics! In this graphic novel, experience the great railroad race between Central Pacific and Union Pacific. Wealth and glory await whichever builds the longest track!

In 1863, America is divided not just by the civil war but by months of travel over thousands of miles. Two railroad companies, one each from East and West, are given the task of connecting the nation by rail. Building this railroad will be a monumental undertaking, difficult and dangerous. The work falls to immigrant laborers from the lowest economic classes. They accomplish astounding feats of engineering while waiting for an Will those who connect the country be accepted into it?

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Cultural, American History, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2022

About the author

Andy Hirsch is a cartoonist living in Dallas, Texas. He is the author and artist of a stack of entries in hit series Science Comics from First Second Books, covering topics from dogs to geology to outer space. His most recent book, Good Boy, follows a mismatched boy and his dog as they overcome obstacles from bar jumps to anxiety dreams in the exciting world of canine sports. His work is consistently selected by the Junior Library Guild and has appeared on the American Library Association's Best Graphic Novels for Children reading list.

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel attempts to portray the abuses that workers faced in building the transcontinental railroad and the racism against black and Chinese workers and the Native Americans that lived in the plains. However, this is all done as a comedy, so it felt a bit awkward to try to address these issues while playing it for laughs.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally like the books in the "History Comics" series, but this one rubs me the wrong way. In trying to keep the events fun and interesting for the intended audience of children, this one simplifies and brushes over some very complicated racial issues with the Chinese laborers who laid the track and the indigenous people who would rather it had never been laid at all. Worst of all, it makes the robber barons behind the enterprise into slightly mischievous rascals instead of the greedy, heartless bastards they were.

The author creates some avatars to represent the Chinese and Irish laborers and touches on their hardships, but some of the deadly dangers they face are played off with slapstick for the sake of a laugh.

I acknowledge that writing history nowadays can be arduous task to try to address the many issues of the many groups of people involved in it, and while this one gives it a pretty good try at times, I think it falls a little short.

[David Schwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick history of the Transcontinental Railroad. This book is focused on the workers who built the railroad and not on the owners. Overall a fair look but quick look at the building of the railroad. Nice graphics.

[Bonnie Grover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people were worked to the bone; some even sacrificed their lives for our modern conveniences. Imagine constructing a railroad line, with all the clearing of the land, digging, tunneling, building bridges, and laying the heavy ties and track.

We could not have the lives we have today without them. Cars, trucks, and even airplanes can’t carry the loads that trains can.

Studying the past, helps us understand our present. The world today is a continuation of history and without considering it we can’t fully appreciate our current destination and where we are going next.

I cannot wait for my students to get their hands on this book and others in the series. I hope they enjoy it as much as they have enjoyed the Science Comic series.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

History Comics takes on the graphic novel retelling of how the transcontinental railroad connected the US after the Civil War. There were two railroad companies given the task, one coming from the east and one coming from the west and they would meet part-way. The story focuses mostly on the workers (immigrants and lower socio-economic classes) but there are also some scenes with the bosses, emphasizing the disparity between the two groups. There are many challenges in building the railroad, including mountains, supply chain, money, etc.

I found some of the story line a bit confusing between trying to tell the two groups apart and other issues despite having some basic understanding of this topic already. I disliked the use of the TOOT replacing words for a character who was apparently swearing - it was just annoying rather than humorous. This will be for a niche audience but could definitely help support curriculum.
CW: racism, prejudice

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how accurate or complete this was. But it was a very readable fun book. And it got a lot of messages across. Good enough art, better than typical writing. Actually kind of fun art too. More like this.

[Artnoose McMoose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The newest book in the History Comics series looks at how and why the transcontinental railroad was built. It shows how the robber barons and the Civil War influenced the route. It touches somewhat on the effects on the Plains Natives, but admits that the story there is much larger than this book. It includes the input from the Mormon population in Utah and why they were so excited to have it built. This book mainly focuses on the work force that built the tracks themselves, with a large chunk dedicated to the Chinese workers that built the most mountainous western part.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the TOOT toots were TOOT annoying and lowered the TOOT quality of the book.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was good! I loved learning about the transcontinental railroad, especially about the Chinese laborers. I recently read Gold Mountain by Betty G. Lee and she also said that the work by Stanford was a big help to her, just as Andy Hirsch did, so I might have to check that out!

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first history comic in this series where my issue is with the history itself. Not the depth or explanation. This is just very misleading history at times. It's all about xenophobia and discrimination so the White men are the evil ones. Yet in a few panels we see an American Indian steal live stock from the company constructing the railway from one side of the nation. The workers get their food back. The author then explains that the American Indians are just protecting their territories. American Indians would often steal horses. Not to protect, but to get rich. In that period American Indians would travel way outside any area they lived in to specifically rob White settlers. They even traveled down to Mexico to do the same. They knew there were easy undefended targets down there. Keep in mind this would involve murdering civilians and pillaging. They didn't just protect their territories they lived from robberies and even kidnappings.

Everything is so childish and silly that the author can't really tell us much about anything. Other readers have pointed this out too. Something happens and then we have jokes covering up the history. We see the owners of the companies are the evil guys as they are greedy. And that's it? The workers are made out to look heroic, but even the accidents look silly and clearly everything is just gags. Similar stuff happened, yet this stuff didn't.

I would not even call it history at this point. It's a parody of history focused on engaging small kids. And it has such a huge progressive bias it becomes misguided. Several time we see American Indians use bow and arrow and then are shown that it's all for play or just hunting. Are they noble savages? The Chinese meanwhile are fully heroic to a degree where it looks silly. Why would heroic smart people work for such a low wage? The poverty doesn't show up here as it's never illustrated.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel history of the race to finish the rail line that would spread from the US East and West coast and meet in the middle. This introduces the key players in the two companies in charge of the lines, the California Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad, the types of workers they employed, some of the issues the workers faced, and the key dates in the race to finish.

This is such a quick survey of a very complex piece of history I'm sure Hirsch had a hard time picking what to include and what to leave out. The book felt a bit rushed to me, but again, it's a challenging bit of history to convey well in such a short book. It's also challenging because there aren't a lot of primary documents remaining from the workers on the lines. There are other books out there if readers want to read more about certain parts. This is a satisfactory introduction.

Notes on content: Swears of a historical figure known for his colorful language are all replaced with "Toot!" No sexual content. Deaths and injuries of workers during construction is mentioned (more implied than shown), as well as injustices faced by Black, Chinese, Irish, and other workers.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The building of the Transcontinental Railroad, largely through a labor perspective. Which means that much of the book is showing the various abuses the workers suffered, both Central and Union Pacific. It also at least touches on the racism and xenophobia that Chinese and other immigrant workers faced. But it's all framed as a comedy, which sort of undermined the message. There are moments that I think do a good job of communicating the hardships the workers faced, but they're almost always followed up with some kind of silliness so immediately that it deadens the impact. Still, appreciation for giving this book more of a labor focus, instead of a Great Men treatment.

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The forward is written by an author of a different book, and it didn’t seem like it was written for this book. That was confusing. Illustrations were excellent, flow was engaging, but the focus was too surface level for me to enjoy. At times it felt like a summary, or a cliff note to help someone remember a more detailed account they had read. A bibliography would have made it much better. I don’t remember any of the names 5 minutes after reading it other than Stanford and Crocker which I know because of museums and schools named after them. Crazy to think that the railroads were privately owned and publicly funded. I wonder about the economics of that.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library copy

These are starting to remind me a bit of the "You Wouldn't Want to Be" books in their snarky tone, but with a 2020 level of political correctness not found in those books. I like that they are a good way to get young readers interested in different historical events, but am not personally a fan of the tone.

[Eileen Winfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging look at the building of the American Transcontinental Railroad, what it took, who suffered, who profited and the exceptionally huge job that it was. The graphics were great, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant. I'll add this series to my collection.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad in comic form. Always good illustrations but sometimes the words are confusing. What exactly is happening and when? Also, the emphasis is on the greed of the builders and backers, and the victimhood of the railroad workers.

[Ashley Holbert]

I agree with other reviews saying that the comedy aspect felt awkward in regards to topics such as racism and exploitation of workers during this time period. This wasn't as successful in terms of highlighting history through the lens of a graphic novel.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think this was as good as the prohibition one. Sometimes I feel like historical authors just want to make it sound like all people of European descent were bad people. Some of them probably were, some of them probably weren't. let's move on with our lives.

[Zaher2004]

Ggdg

[Olivier Boivin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

More experiential than a cohesive narrative.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information; good non-fiction book but some of the information might bog-down elementary readers.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heart of man? Eek!