Name: The Great Railroad Race
ISBN: 9780590109918

Kristiana Gregory

As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, fourteen-year-old Libby keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the West in 1868.

The Diary of Libby West

The Great Railroad Race

Meredith Rose

Despite how long it took me to read this book, I enjoyed it immensely. I want to start by sharing my favorite quote from The Great Railroad Race: 

"I don't want to be like the absent journalists who write stories about what they think happened, so I will report only what I saw with my own eyes. By the way, my new opinion is this: Gossip and rumors make a mess of history." (Gregory p. 172).

Kristiana Gregory wrote this in the late 1990s through the eyes of her main character, Libby West, a girl living in the 1860s, but her words couldn't be more applicable to the state of news reporting today. I often feel guilty that I make no effort to read the news and am unaware of current events. However, Gregory reminds me that when the only things being reported are gossip, rumors, and opinions, there is little value in paying attention. While this quote is somewhat affirming, it also saddens me to think that today's lack of journalistic integrity is creating an inaccurately preserved history. 

As a communications major, I really enjoyed reading this book because it reminded me that I should choose to write and report the truth without letting rumors, gossip, and most importantly, opinions cloud history. On the outside, The Great Railroad Race seems like just another fun Dear America book, but in reality, it is an insightful commentary on news reporting and how it should be done with the utmost integrity. 

Aside from this outstanding theme, I also really enjoyed the book's epilogue. The author did a great job paralleling her main character's experiences in 1869, the year America completed the transcontinental railroad, with that of her grandchild's one hundred years later in 1969, the year America put men on the moon.

The Great Railroad Race The Diary of Libby West