Golden Gate

September 23, 2024
“People say it’s impossible,” begins this sprawling history of the now-iconic Golden Gate Bridge’s construction. Narrated from the perspective of a lighthouse keeper’s children, who watch the building over several years, the accounting reveals how naysayers believe the distance is too great, the fog too dense, the wind and tides too strong. The children watch as dynamite blows away stone, creating a site to anchor suspension cables. Heck (A Is for Bee) divides the spreads horizontally throughout. Larger views above show construction workers at work on various parts of the bridge (“Workers climb/ and clamber, reach, jump, and swing—acrobats/ suspended between water and sky”), while a narrower ribbon below shows the entire site with new additions in the bridge’s signature vermilion, a device that makes every stage of the project clear. When the cables are successfully strung across the bay and the bridge begins to take its familiar silhouette, “No one is saying impossible anymore.” Building to the subject’s 1937 opening—and a busy scene of the public walking the bridge—this work carefully recalls the experience of witnessing an era-specific infrastructure project. Protagonists are portrayed with pale skin. An afterword offers further context. Ages 5–8.