MY NAME IS AMERICA/DEAR AMERICA: Railroad Race

The transcontinental railroad is the subject of both My Name Is America and Dear America books. Both tell similar stories about the race between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific in their battle during the construction of the railroad.

I felt the My Name Is America book was stronger, because this is a tale better told by a male character. The Dear America was all right, but quickly turned into a love story and was more about family issues than anything involving the railroad. There have been great DA books with stories told from the female perspective, but in this case, when the subject is building a railroad, it works better as the journal of a boy that's doing all these various jobs, not someone who's just travelling along while her father writes a newspaper about everything.

So if you just want one book on the subject, read the My Name Is America one. The Dear America isn't bad, but it's not the better story for this subject.