We picked up Johnny Tremain: A Story of Boston in Revolt because, once again, we were looking for something to go along with our history studies. We are studying the American Revolution, so this was a perfect choice. And it was a Newberry award winner, so it already has two stars in my book. Esther Forbes wrote the book a few years after she wrote her Pulitzer prize winning book Paul Revere. (We enjoyed this one so much that we’ll be reading that one very shortly.)
Johnny Tremain tells the story of the American Revolution through the eyes of a young boy. Johnny is a young teenager living in Boston. As his parents died when he was small, he was apprenticed to a silversmith. As unrest grows over the relationship between England and the colonies, Johnny is a trusted assistant to the Sons of Liberty. He is befriended, even respected, by such men as John Hancock, Sam and John Adams, and Paul Revere. They confide in him with many of their secret initiatives, even making him a regular attendee to the Sons of Liberty meetings. He is being groomed as a useful tool in the American Revolution.
This story is full of drama and suspense. As it is the story of war, it is not an overly happy book. It tells of the downside of was without being too graphic for young readers. Since we need to move on in our studies to the next time period in history, I will probably not read Paul Revere aloud to Mary Anneliese. However, because I loved Johnny Tremain so much, I will probably read it myself.
My favorite quote from the book was this: “Hundreds would die, but not the thing they died for.”
And that holds true today in many situations around the world.
