Yin. Coolies. Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet. New York: Philomel Books, 2001. ISBN: 0-39923227-3.
Author website: http://www.soentpiet.com/yins_corner.html
Illustrator website: http://www.soentpiet.com/
Awards: ALA Notable Book, 2001.
Media: Watercolor on watercolor paper.
Curricular Connection: California State Social Studies Standards, Grade Five, Standard 5.8 Students trace the colonization, immigration, and settlement patterns of the American people from 1789 to the mid-1800s, with emphasis on the role of economic incentives, effects of the physical and political geography, and transportation systems.
Annotation: In the late 1800’s, Shek and his little brother Wong travel from a revolution scarred China to the promise of America and begin working on the western span of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Personal Reaction: Students working on projects about immigration and family histories would appreciate this story of two young Chinese men who move to America to work on the transcontinental railroad. California is full of students with fascinating family tales about immigration and making it in America and Yin’s is clearly personal. Shek and Wong are brothers hoping to start a new life in 1865. They do start a new life, but it is filled with harsh working and living conditions and prejudice. Shek, Wong and the other immigrants fight back, demanding fair treatment. But, it’s 1865 and Shek and Wong are Chinese and fair labor practices are a long ways off. Eventually, the two brothers save enough money to quit working for the railroad company and start their own business. Soentpiet’s watercolor illustrations are big and expansive, just like the undertaking of building a transcontinental railroad and the injustices for the Chinese.
