A tribute to the Panama Canals 100th anniversary, written by the Newbery Honor-winning author of The Surrender Tree, traces its story while paying tribute to the laborers who risked their lives throughout its construction. 15,000 first printing. In 1914, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, which connected the worlds two largest oceans and signaled Americas emergence as a global superpower. It was a miracle, this path of water where a mountain had stoodand creating a miracle is no easy thing. Thousands lost their lives, and those who survived worked under the harshest conditions for only a few silver coins a day. From the young "silver people" whose back-breaking labor built the Canal to the denizens of the endangered rainforest itself, this is the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, as only Newbery Honor-winning author Margarita Engle could tell it. Newbery Honor winner Margarita Engle tells the story of the creation of the Panama Canal in this powerful YA historical novel in verse.