China Grade

A novel about the Transcontinental Railroad

Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
324 Pages
Reviewed on 02/04/2022
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Frances Deborah Kerr-Phillips for Readers' Favorite

China Grade: A novel about the Transcontinental Railroad by Wong Yue is a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of those involved in the construction of the Central Pacific Railway in the US in the 1860s. Yue has woven an engrossing story around real events. Chen is recruited from his war-torn village in Guandong, China, to work on the railroad - saving his family and village from insurgents by doing this. Thousands of miles away in a Cornish tin-mining village, Lowen and Rozen Trestain decide to seek a better life in America with their young son, Gorran. Lowen and Chen both find employment with the Central Pacific Railroad Company. As skilled and forthright individuals, they become firm friends, despite the prejudices of the time, facing incredible physical and mental hardships as the railroad inches ever westward.

Wong Yue propels the reader through his novel by keeping one on tenterhooks as to what is going to happen next: I would often read further than I had intended. The chapter titles – generally only a single word - contribute to this feeling of curiosity in the reader. It is clear that Yue conducted extensive research and I was fascinated by the history underlying the novel: be it the actual construction of the railroad, the dangers therein, the prejudices and racial and social tensions, or the political need for the project to succeed. For anyone with an interest in US history or simply a desire for a rip-roaring story, Yue’s China Grade is a must.