The story of a young Chinese girl who arrives in North America only to discover that her father has died building the railway.

This powerful, unforgettable and multi-award-winning tale is based on the lives of the Chinese who settled on the west coast of North America in the early 1900s.

Left behind in China by her father, who has gone to North America to find work, Choon-yi has made her living by selling her paintings in the market. When her father writes one day and asks her to join him, she joyously sets off, only to discover that he has been killed.

Choon-yi sees the railway and the giant train engines that her father died for, and she is filled with an urge to paint them. But her work disappoints her until a ghostly presence beckons her to board a train where she meets the ghosts of the men who died building the railway. She is able to give them peace by returning their bones to China where they were born.

Ghostly, magical and yet redeeming, this tale by Paul Yee is superbly illustrated by Harvey Chan.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

Paul Yee is one of Canada's finest writers for children. He was raised in Vancouver and has worked in the archives at the Vancouver Museum. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature for Ghost Train. He now lives in Toronto.
Ghost Trainbr>    Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award 1996br>    Winner of the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award 1997br>    Finalist for the Toronto IODE Book Award 1997
The Bone Collector's Sonbr>    Winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award 2004br>    Finalist for the Rocky Mountain Book Award 2006br>    Finalist for the Stellar Book Award (BC Teen Readers' Choice Award) 2005-6br>    Chosen as Best of 2004, Resource Links.ca
Bamboobr>    Finalist for the Chocolate Lily Award 2007 (BC Readers' Choice Award)br>    Chosen as Best of 2006, Resource Links
The Jade Necklacebr>    Finalist for the Mr. Christie's Book Award 2002

Paul Yee's profile page

Harvey Chan immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong as a teenager. He has won the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award three times - with Paul Yee for Roses Sing on New Snow and Ghost Train, and with Celia Barker Lottridge for Music for the Tsar of the Sea by Celia Barker Lottridge. Harvey is currently living in Hong Kong.

Harvey Chan's profile page

Molly Johnson's profile page

• Winner, CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award
• Winner, Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award
• Winner, Prix Enfantaisie
• Winner, Governor General's Literary Awards: Text
• Winner, Ruth Schwartz Award