How to Get Rich In the California Gold Rush
Tod Olson (Author), Scott Allred (Illustrator), Marc Aronson (Afterword)

Booklist *Starred Review*
...the How to Get Rich series deftly blends story with history to not only give readers an understanding of a gold rush but also to provide a lighthearted and engaging entry point into frontier life. The story (with a tongue-in-cheek claim to be true) follows three young men as they decide to try their luck as prospectors out west. Period lithographs are reproduced alongside original illustrations, all lending to the historical feel of the gold rush era, as the young men embark upon their journey, meet with moderate but backbreaking success, fall apart when they run out of money, and eventually all set out on their own to pursue different means of getting rich. This is where the book really shines—showing how very few people actually got rich panning and mining for gold, but demonstrating that a vast number claimed shares of wealth by creating the various trades and services necessary to support the influx of people bustling into the new towns out west. A ledger on each page tracks the young men’s finances in a genuinely exciting way, adding a sly element of math to this well-conceived and compulsively appealing book. Kids won’t even realize how much they’re learning. Grades 4-8. --Ian Chipman

How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush: An Adventurer's Guide to the Fabulous Riches Discovered in 1848

This fictionalized account of a young prospector and entrepreneur's gold rush adventures is presented as if it were an actual historical document recorded between 1849 and 1851. Both an editor's note at the outset and an afterword by Marc Aronson stress the fact that Thomas Hartley's existence cannot be verified. That said, Hartley's journey takes himself and two companions from Connecticut to the California gold fields via the Panama land passage and, ultimately, two years later, back again (wealthier and wiser) to reunite with his family and sweetheart. An antique-looking ledger sheet records his income and expenses on each page as he earns and loses money in various exploits, which include meeting greedy con men, gold strikes, and gambling losses in San Francisco. Old-fashioned language and tongue-in-cheek humor are used throughout. An excellent list of further reading and online resources accompanies the "Encyclopedia of the Gold Rush," in which unusual words and historical figures are defined and described. Richly illustrated with a mix of historically authentic lithographs and "Thomas Hartley's" drawings, this book is a colorful and lively introduction to the period for young history buffs.
—Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library

How to Get Rich on a Texas Cattle Drive: In Which I Tell the Honest Truth About Rampaging Rustlers, Stampeding Steers and Other Fateful Hazards on the Wild Chisolm Trail

This book follows the adventures of a 15-year-old cowhand on the famous Chisholm Trail through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, as he battles stampedes, rustlers, angry Comanche braves, territorial Kansas farmers, and half a continent’s worth of dust. With a combination of tongue-in-cheek humor and actual historical detail, this fictional account draws from the personal accounts of cowhands who drove cattle from the plains of Texas to the railheads of the Midwest in the 1800’s to capture the American drive towards success and riches.

Buy How to Get Rich on the Oregon Trail at Amazon.com, at Barnes and Noble at Indie Bound Store Finder

Buy How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush at Amazon.com, at Barnes and Noble at Indie Bound Store Finder

Buy How to Get Rich on a Texas Cattle Drive at Amazon.com, at Barnes and Noble at Indie Bound Store Finder