Savage, Jeff. Rugged Gold Miners.

Savage, Jeff.  Rugged Gold Miners.  Enslow, 2012.  48p. $21.26.  ISBN 978-0-7660-4020-5    

elm/ms  Grades 3-8     VG-BN          

Rugged Gold Miners provides an overview of the boom-and-bust lifestyle of  miners and the towns founded by the gold and silver discoveries of the late 1800’s.  It is exciting reading that reveals the dangers and hard work involved in mining in Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska. With black-and-white drawings and photos, students will see the people and tools involved in mining. A small black-and-white map shows the major cities of Nevada and California that were associated with the Gold Rush.  The writing successfully replicates the sense of excitement that people felt when they heard of the riches in the western part of the United States in the late 19th century.  For such a slim book, there is a significant amount of information about gold and silver, where it is found, how it is mined, and the hardscrabble lives of miners.  This book will appeal to casual browsers as well as those needing material for reports on the Old West.  Chapter notes, a glossary and an index complete the book.        

The series is True Tales of the Wild West, and it is comprised of six titles about the people who settled the West, relating exciting events taken from real lives.   Each book has black-and-white illustrations, a glossary, chapter notes and an index.                        Subject: Gold Miners                          Lois McNicol