Tunnel of Gold

Title: TUNNEL OF GOLD

Author: Susan K. Marlow

Publisher: Kregel Publications

March 2013

ISBN: 978-0825442957

Genre: Young adult/historical

When Jeremiah “Jem” Coulter is caught in a miners’ riot, he learns the worst. The Midas mine has run out of gold. Will, the owner’s son, tells Jem the only way to get the Midas working again is to blast deep into the ground for a new vein. This means a nearby abandoned mine must be reclaimed for an air shaft.

But Jem’s friend Wu Shen and the other Chinese miners are working those diggings. They have no intention of giving up their lawful scavenger rights, not even to save the town.

Tempers flare. Jem’s sheriff father is ordered to evict the Chinese from their mine or lose his job.

Jem is torn between what is good for Goldtown and what is right. Then Will comes up with an idea. If Jem goes along with it, Pa can keep his job and the Midas will get its air shaft. But Will’s risky plan may lead to disaster….

TUNNEL OF GOLD is the second book in Ms. Marlow’s Goldtown Adventures series. Readers will want to read the first book Badge of Honor to find out how Jem’s pa became sheriff and how Nathan came to live with Jem’s family, but otherwise TUNNEL OF GOLD stands alone.

I enjoyed reading TUNNEL OF GOLD and read it through in an afternoon. It is filled with adventure from start to finish—reminding me of an old Laura Ingalls Wilder movie when Pa goes and works in a mine with the Chinese that I saw as a child. The adventure starts immediately and doesn’t let up until the last page.

If you are looking for an adventure book for boys then pick up TUNNEL OF GOLD. Girls might enjoy it too. Ages 8 and up. $7.99. 144 page.