"Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes

Considering that this was one of my favorite books when I was like eleven, I was astonished by how very little I actually remembered of it.  Oh, I remembered the big things, like Johnny getting his hand ruined in a silversmithing accident, Paul Revere playing a central role, and that it involved a printing press a lot.  There were a couple of random scenes that were still really familiar when I read them.  But most of it, I'd forgotten.  So it was a joy to discover it all over again, in a way!

Johnny Tremain is an apprentice silversmith living in Boston on the eve of the American Revolution.  After a terrible accident cripples him, he loses his apprenticeship and must find other work.  He falls in with some of the Sons of Liberty and gradually becomes a rebel, patriot, Whig -- whatever you want to call the people working to break away from England's injustice.  Through Johnny's eyes, we get to meet some of the great Revolutionaries, from Paul Revere to Sam Adams.  The book begins before the Boston Tea Party and ends just after the battles at Lexington and Concord.

I really enjoyed reading this aloud to my kids, and I think it brought a little slice of American history alive for them the way it did many years ago for me.  I'm pretty sure this book is a big part of why I've been fascinated with the American Revolution for decades now.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some mild bad language and non-gory violence.