William Durbin

"It's August 1867 and Sean has just arrived from Chicago, planning to work with his father on the Transcontinental Railroad. Sean must start at the bottom, as a water carrier, toting barrels of it to the thirsty men who are doing the backbreaking work on the line. At night, everyone is usually too tired to do anything but sleep, yet Sundays are free, and Sean discovers the rough and rowdy world of the towns that seem to sprout up from nowhere along...

In the winter of 1898, a seventh-grade boy drops out of school to work with his father, the cook at Blackwater Logging Camp in Minnesota.

In 1867, fifteen-year-old Sean experiences both hardships and rewards when he joins his father in working on the building of the Transcontinental Rairoad.

When Pierre La Page's father has an accident, thirteen-year-old Pierre must quit school and paddle a canoe 2400 miles as a voyageur for the North West Company in order to earn money for his family.

After journeying across the Atlantic with his mother and two sisters, young Otto Peltonen joins his father in the iron ore mines of northern Minnesota, experiencing the harsh labor conditions that were common at the time, as mining companies cared more about making a profit than for their workers safety. Writing in his journal about his familys struggles and the hard life Finnish immigrants endured in the early twentieth century, Otto ultimately strengthens...