America is divided not just by the Civil War but by months of travel over thousands of miles. Two railway companies, one each from East and West, are given the task of connecting the nation by rail. Their routes lead over deserts, under mountains, and through rightly suspicious Indigenous nations. Wealth and glory await whichever track stretches farthest. The clock is ticking! Building this railroad will be a monumental undertaking, difficult and dangerous. The work falls to immigrant laborers from the lowest social & economic classes. They accomplish astounding feats of engineering while waiting for an answer: Will those who connect the country be accepted into it?
juvenile
Andy Hirsch.
