The Diary of David R. Leeper, Rushing for Gold (In My Own Words)

Rohrer Leeper, David

ISBN 10: 0761410112 ISBN 13: 9780761410119

Publisher: Cavendish Square, 2002

Synopsis

A young prospector describes his experiences traveling overland to the California gold fields and during the five years he spent digging for gold.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-9-During the 19th century, people enjoyed reading published diaries of travelers, adventurers, gunfighters, and others. These first-person accounts provided fascinating information about historical events, semi-exotic places, and day-to-day living conditions. The Roops have taken three of these accounts and edited them for a new generation of readers. Each title contains the most interesting and informative segments from the original piece. Highlighted, unfamiliar words are defined in the margins, and sidebars and boxed sections contain additional background material on people, places, and events. All include color illustrations and maps. These are uniformly good titles, especially appealing in their immediacy. Leeper's diary is filled with details about the hardships of getting to California and the disappointment of not finding a fortune once there; Martin's diary describes the years he was enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Young Jemison recounts events from her life before and after she was captured and adopted by members of the Seneca tribe. The Roops have "here and there-revised a sentence in order to make its meaning clear to the modern reader" and the resulting texts are polished, readable, and reliable.
Dona J. Helmer, College Gate School Library, Anchorage, AK
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Reviewed with The Dairy of Mary Jemison.

Gr. 3-6. As editors for the promising In My Own Words series, the Roops organize and prepare the first-person accounts of historical figures and modernize spelling and punctuation to make the writing clear and accessible to young readers. Because each book is short, printed in relatively large type, and illustrated with several attractive watercolor paintings, the result is a series of history books that look appealing, read well, and carry the conviction of original accounts. Page-long sidebars fill in background information that students will need to better understand the times. Based on Jemison's oral account of her story as recorded by James Seaver and published in 1824, the "diary" of Mary Jemison describes her capture by Indians at the age of 12, her adoption by a Seneca family, and her life with the Native Americans. Leeper's story, taken from a book he published in 1894, doesn't read like a diary either, but it is a lively account of his life as forty-niner. Beginning in Indiana, it recounts his adventures crossing the country by wagon train and prospecting for gold in California. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Cavendish Square
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0761410112
• ISBN 13: 9780761410119
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 64
• Illustrator: Kubinyi Laszlo