Shelly's Book Blog

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, won the Newbery medal in 1944. This is a great story for 5th graders because it is set in Boston in the 1770's. The Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington and Concord play prominent roles in the plot, and familiar historical figures such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams are characters in the story.
At the beginning of the story Johnny is an apprentice to a silversmith, but a tragic accident forces him to give up his position and try to make a new life. Johnny is an admirable and likeable character, and I found myself quickly caught up in his world and interested in what would happen next in the story.
This is a fairly advanced book (Renaissance Learning gives its reading level as 5.9) and it is quite long, so I would only recommend it to 5th graders who are ready for a challenging book. I believe that older kids interested in this period of history -- both boys and girls -- would enjoy it. I liked this book, but I did get a little confused reading the last several chapters that deal with the military maneuvers of the battles. I suspect, though, that my confusion was more a result of my lack of interest in these kinds of details than a reflection of the author's skill. This book was written many years ago but has certainly withstood the test of time to become a classic of children's literature.