I Am Not a Ghost: The Canadian Pacific Railway

Written by David Bouchard with Zhong-Yang Huang

Illustrated by Sean Huang

Plumleaf Press

 ‎978-1-778242816

40 pp.

Ages 7-12

May 2023

 

While the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s was considered an achievement in connecting eastern Canada with British Columbia, its history is clouded in infamy. From its treatment of Chinese workers to the expulsion of First Nations from their lands, the construction of that national railway is a bigger story and one made up of many. I Am Not a Ghost is one story.

From I Am Not a Ghost by David Bouchard with Zhong-Yang Huang, illus. by Sean Huang

Granddaughter, you and your children must know this story, and you must remember. (pg.9)

 

As a grandfather remembers, he recalls the hardship of finding work in China and leaving his family to find a better life. But what he found were tireless working conditions, hunger, cold and the bigotry that had the white men calling every Chinese man by the name Johnny. Still, he persisted, hopeful of a prosperous future, eventually saving enough money to send for his wife and son.

From I Am Not a Ghost by David Bouchard with Zhong-Yang Huang, illus. by Sean Huang

When he falls ill, laying in the snow as if already dead, and is ignored by the foreman, Lady Amelia Douglas, the visiting wife of the late Governor of BC, comes to his aid and demands he be taken to her home in Victoria. Although the men at the camp tell his family he has died, Mrs. Douglas gets him medical attention and, once she learns of his family days later, brings them to him. After several weeks, his family returns to Chinatown and he to the railway.

From I Am Not a Ghost by David Bouchard with Zhong-Yang Huang, illus. by Sean Huang

But, upon his return, his countrymen are aghast, convinced they are seeing a ghost. He has to persuade them with the words of the book's title that he is not a ghost and recounts the goodness and compassion of Mrs. Douglas, a Métis woman, who was their friend like other Indigenous people. 

 

Because of the kindness of Mrs. Douglas, he was able to survive the building of the railway, build a business and extend kindness to other Chinese immigrants, helping to grow a compassionate and vibrant community.

From I Am Not a Ghost by David Bouchard with Zhong-Yang Huang, illus. by Sean Huang

Non-fiction books that teach history, especially those used in schools, tend to be verbose and comprehensive, skimming over many topics, using dense text, and leaving no memorable impression. I Am Not a Ghost is not such a text. By focusing on the immigrant experience of one Chinese Canadian in the 1880s, Victoria's David Bouchard with Regina's Zhong-Yang Huang effectively place young readers into the treacherous life of working on the railway as a Chinese immigrant in the 1880s. The toil, the racism, and the unfairness of conditions and treatments all speak to oppression and perseverance in that oppression. The story of this man is heartbreaking and very real, as is the true story of the building of the railway and Mrs. Douglas with her  compassionate nature. ("Historical Notes" at the end of the book give further details about the context for the story of I Am Not a Ghost.)

 

With the seriousness of the story and the realism of a historical narrative, the art of Sean Huang adds to the story, taking us from frozen landscapes of workers in canvas tents or collapsed in snowbanks, to the opulence of a fine lady's Victorian home, to the busyness of countless workers on the railway. Combining both a heaviness and lightness to his brushstrokes and the classic palette of old masters, Sean Huang takes us into the past of David Bouchard and Zhong-Yang Huang's story, and tells a history where a man is disregarded because of his heritage and taken for dead because he might not have mattered enough to be helped.

If you're a teacher of Canadian history for young people and want a fresh take on the building of the railway, I Am Not a Ghost provides a very personal story that goes beyond the placement of that last spike and reminds us that achievements are often on the backs of others who should be recognized and their stories told.