The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) (You Choose: History) Read Free Books and Download eBooks
Describes the events of the nineteenth century California gold rush. Readers choices reveal historical details of how miners traveled, how they looked for gold, and their impact on Californias history.
Lexile Measure: 680L (What's this?)
Series: You Choose: History
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Capstone Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1429611790
ISBN-13: 978-1429611794
Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 5.2 x 7.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #452,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #216 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > History > United States > State & Local #721 in Books > Children's Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Friendship, Social Skills & School Life > Social Skills #3018 in Books > Children's Books > Geography & Cultures > Explore the World
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 4
I read these books with my 8-year-old daughter for fun. We play a game where one of us reads aloud and the other gets to make the choices of which path to take. In this volume, the main character is a young White man, and I guess that is a drawback since we don't get to explore the choices women had during the California Gold Rush and we don't learn anything about the Chinese in California. That's really the only negative... it's the history of white men, no doubt about that. The editors did a better job with the Irish Potato Famine volume, where the main character's gender is left ambiguous and only through making choices does the character develop a masculine or feminine identity.I appreciate how the hallmark of a choose-your-own-adventure story, an untimely death, is maintained, but I also appreciate how the editors leave wiggle-room so that there is more than one way to achieve a happy ending to the journey. One of the possibilities here is, of course, striking it rich, but there are other options, such as becoming a merchant or returning back east having made a decent return on investment.
I bought this for my 8 year-old who is struggling in reading in attempts to get a book that he would enjoy. He loved reading it! I also enjoyed the various paths that a reader could choose; even though it is mainly focused on the California Gold Rush, it also explored the westward expansion both overland and searoutes. I also enjoyed how some of the experiences were modeled after actual persons in history.
I would love to give this book a 5 star rating for its content, but I can't do it because the binding COMPLETELY fell apart after an hour of use! I had purchased this and the Kindle version to see which I liked most and was going to keep the Kindle version but since the book is now a collection of loose pages I'm going to have to keep it and return the Kindle version. Content-wise it's great though and my kids loved going back to see what new adventures they could have.
My 8 yr old loves these books. Some of the content and outcomes are dark and realistic - murder, theft, illness, death, but are balanced with positive outcomes including striking it rich. For kids who are into non-fiction, this is a great series.
My 2nd grader and I were studying California and I found this book at the library. He enjoyed picking his fate so much that I just ordered a bunch of the other history "you choose books" to add to his studies. One reviewer noted it was not accurate, but I grew up in California and it was accurate to what I remember learning. Sure there is more to study on the gold rush, but this is a good intro for the 7-9 set.
Good book--my children enjoyed the story and options. I will look for others in this series. :)
Kids read this over and over again.
My sons like it a lot.
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