Diamond Fever!
A True Crime Story in the Wild West
Published on 12. May 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-250-26574-6 (ISBN)
Description
In 1872, a pair of scheming prospectors sold a non-existent American diamond deposit to prominent businessmen with the promise of fame, fortune, and riches beyond their wildest dreams. From Arizona to Wyoming, thousands of miners and prospectors flocked to the western United States in search of diamond deposits, triggering one of the biggest--and briefest--diamond prospecting crazes in United States history.
But the businessmen quickly realized they had been swindled when the few diamonds they found could not possibly have been naturally produced in sandy and rocky conditions. It was all one big hoax!
In this fun, high-stakes nonfiction middle grade adventure by award-winning author Steve Sheinkin, learn how a pair of prospectors triggered the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 and sparked the briefest diamond prospecting craze in western American history.
But the businessmen quickly realized they had been swindled when the few diamonds they found could not possibly have been naturally produced in sandy and rocky conditions. It was all one big hoax!
In this fun, high-stakes nonfiction middle grade adventure by award-winning author Steve Sheinkin, learn how a pair of prospectors triggered the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 and sparked the briefest diamond prospecting craze in western American history.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 9 years
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
30-35 b/w comic pages; 15-20 b/w spots
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
376 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-250-26574-6 (9781250265746)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2026
Roaring Brook Press
€12.99
Available for download
Persons
Steve Sheinkin is an acclaimed author whose accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and honor, and three National Book Award finalist honors. His fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction histories include Impossible Escape, Fallout, Undefeated, Born to Fly, The Port Chicago 50, and Bomb. Sheinkin lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and two children. stevesheinkin.com
Jon Chad lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter. He is the illustrator of Science Comics: Solar System, and the author of Leo Geo, Science Comics: Volcanoes, Science Comics: The Periodic Table of Elements, and Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball. Jon Chad's newest graphic novel series, The Solvers, uses comics, and superhero action, to teach mathematics to young readers. jonchad.com
Jon Chad lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter. He is the illustrator of Science Comics: Solar System, and the author of Leo Geo, Science Comics: Volcanoes, Science Comics: The Periodic Table of Elements, and Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball. Jon Chad's newest graphic novel series, The Solvers, uses comics, and superhero action, to teach mathematics to young readers. jonchad.com