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Dec 17, 2009

Adam rated it:

Probably the greatest book ever written, by both man and child, woman and other writing entity, Johnny Tremain tells the story of a young genius who becomes a silversmith and burns the crappin' hell out of his hand. He's always embarrassed by his sort of melty hand and keeps it in his pockets or in his mother's pies and pie type dishes. One day he meets a girl named Cilla, Priscilla for long, who loves him despite for his sick melt-hand. Paul Bunyan or John Tubbers or whichever is the name of More...

7 comments like (32 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jamie rated it:

"wah, I was born rich but I grew up poor. wah, I burned my hand."

5 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2008

Andrew rated it:

I know this is perceived as being a "kid's book", but I think that it is a story any adult would enjoy. Johnny Tremain takes place in pre-revolutionary Boston and is about a prideful (but slowly improving) boy who finds himself in the center of the independence fervor. Although I obviously cannot be sure of how accurate the descriptions are, I appreciated the book for doing such a great job at taking me back to the colonial era of American history. As Johnny Tremain struggled with adve More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Beesan rated it:

Definetly not the greatest book ever written. Pretty terrible actually!! Didn't like it at all. Expected it to be better and i'm very dissapointed. It was very hard to understand what was going on im each chapter and I would not recommend this book to anyone.

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

jacky rated it:

I hated this book when I read it in middle school (?). I had to choose a historical fiction book and I believe the librarian recommended this one. I found it terribly boring when I read it. Looking back now, I probably wasn't very open minded about reading something I wasn't really interested in, like most kids.

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 11, 2008

Jayna added it

As an apprentice to a silversmith, Johnny sees great success and is a good worker. But he suffers from an accident which results in serious burns, leaving his thumb attached to his hand – promptly ending his career as a silversmith apprentice. After searching for new work to do, Johnny comes across a printing shop where Rab works for his Aunt and Uncle. So Johnny becomes a rider for the “Boston Observer.” Also, he takes part in the Boston Tea Party, and uses his skills to spy against the Br More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2009

Nancy rated it:

If I were a children's book writer, this is exactly the kind of book I'd love to write. It has mystery, suspense, romance, history, coming-of-age, overcoming personal and physical problems; gosh, it has it all.

I've always wanted to read this book, just never got around to it till now. If your child is studying Revolutionary War times in history, this would be a great literary supplement to that history lesson. It brings the history of that time to life.

Including, but not More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2008

Waffle...♥ rated it:

Wow it's so touching! I really LOVED how it ended completely! But I wish the author continued more with Cilla... haha gotta love romance. Overall it was great! I loved the details and it was like I was back in that time... being one with Johnny Tremain! HaHa sorry just trying to describe what I feel... sorta like, when I'm reading this book! :O Well I don't think much of my friend's would enjoy reading this book but I certainly have. Maybe... *cough* insane Helen did but she's insane so xP

108 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2009

Iman rated it:

this book is bad because i dont like historic books cause i think history is boring

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 07, 2008

Beth rated it:

Funny what you remember in a book. I read this as a child, and all I recalled was one of the last scenes of the book...a very touching, startling scene. I didn't realize how much I had blocked out--except for this one event--until I was actually reading it again at the end. Not remembering actually allowed me much enjoyment of rediscovering the characters and the new tenor of humanness I could now more fully understand as an adult.

It's a great read, and very enjoyable to the one w More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2008

Amanda rated it:

I had to read this "classic" fo school. I love classics by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, but Esther Forbes killed me! (not in a good way). I depise history, so maybe thats why reading this book made me feel like it was a pimple on the beautiful face of literature. It wasn't many pages, so that wasn't an issue, but I was soo droneful. Everytime I read something I had to stuggle to remember it. Johnny and Rab were frends, and at the end he dies. That was the most touching part, the end, More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2009

Nicole rated it:

I hated this book!!!! if u read this book you will become boring and old!
this book pulls you into a wrinkled old time of so-called "action"!!! i could have
found more action by going to a retirement home and watching the 900 year old people play bingo!!!!!! i of course was forced against my will to read this,
otherwise, i wouldnt go spitting distance of it!!!! if you enjoyed this book
(mr.flegar) then you are boring old!! do not read this thing! it's a plague!

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 27, 2010

Julie at All Ears rated it:

I remember loving this book years (or decades?) ago in elementary school and given that it is set in Boston on the eve of the Revolutionary War, it was a perfect choice for a family road trip from Boston to Cape Cod. The title character, Johnny Tremain, is an apprentice to a mediocre silver smith. Due to an accident while pouring silver on the Sabbath, Johnny's hand is maimed and he is forced to take a more menial job delivering the town newspaper. Through the newspaper Johnny gets swept up More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2008

Kellyn rated it:

As she recounts the life experiences of twelve-year-old Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes skillfully conveys the excitement, danger and commitment experienced by the patriots who fought during the US Revolution. Many of the characters in this account are accurately portrayed and described—including several of those who helped write the Declaration of Independence. Reading this book cannot fail to make this time period truly understandable and alive.

Unfortunately the length and langua More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Sammy-O rated it:

Another 5th grade required historical novel. The reason why it's not 1 star? Mutilation by molten silver - it was the one redeeming factor.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 13, 2008

Deusprimus rated it:

A very interesting tale about both the Revolution, and the breaking of one mans pride. Johnny must be taken to the lowest level of humiliation, before he is finally able to accept his situation, and learn to make the best of it. While not overtly Christian, there are many ties that can be made between this and the value of accepting the position in which the Lord places us. While we may not understand why we must suffer as we do, and often fight against it, our paths are being directed by one wh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Cesar rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2009

Cameron rated it:

HATED THIS BOOK

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

May 25, 2011

Anna rated it:

Book Review: Johnny Tremain by Alex

I enjoyed reading the book Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. The book is about a young silversmith in the time of the Revolutionary War. When he permanently handicaps his hand, he must go searching for a new job. Once he is apprenticed at a newspaper press, he must recover a silver cup, stolen from him by one of the wealthiest families in Boston, and survive one of the most brutal battles ever fought! The book ends with a very surprising plot twist More...

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Mar 20, 2011

Izzi rated it:

In Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, the intelligent, passionate, persistent Johnny Tremain has to forget everything he's ever learned and loved from a terrible accident, endure living through the times right before the American Revolution, find a new life that will accept him with his newly crippled status, and deal with all the girls he's known and loved growing up and moving on. Johnny is an extraordinary silversmith living with and working for the Laphams. The Laphams have four daught More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

Amy rated it:

It took me a while to get into this book. Usually, you don't expect the main character to be such a... jerk! And, wow, Johnny Tremain was pretty jerky. Then I decided that I liked that. It actually made him more real to me. So many times in historical fiction, the characters are all just way too perfect, and this was not the case here.

This book really simplified the "taxation without representation" issue that drove the colonists to throw that infamous Tea Party. I t More...

0 comments like

Oct 10, 2010

Alexander rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Apr 23, 2010

Cindy rated it:

Johnny is apprentice to a silversmith in Boston. When an accident leaves Johnny burned and unable to work, he has to find a new way of life. He settles in to a new home and starts meeting some very prominent citizens - John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincy - and before long, he is thrown in to the cause of liberty. Johnny's friendships are tested and he must figure out how he can best be a patriot himself.

I liked this book. I don't know how I managed to miss reading More...

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Jan 16, 2010

Laura rated it:

I haven't read this in ages and ages, but I've been telling so many people about it lately that I figured I should just go ahead and put up a review.

Johnny Tremain is, quite simply, one of my favorite books ever. It's among those beautiful childhood literary experiences that introduced me to my enduring love of historical fiction -- and not incidentally, to my love of history. It's through Johnny Tremain the events of the Revolutionary War first came alive for me, and through Johnn More...

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Sep 09, 2009

Alexa SOF2014 rated it:

The Gilbreth family is made up of a dad who thinks he can raise the children like they are working in a factory, a mom who supports her husband, and last but not least 12 children. Mr. Gilbreth always takes the kids everywhere he goes, even on business trips and he always stands up for his family in any type of situation. With 12 kids you would think there would be a lot of chaos. One of the things Mr. Gilbreth does to make sure the kids do not get out of hand is that he has family assemblies by More...

1 comment like

Aug 04, 2009

ci rated it:

I think this is,and can only be, Esther Forbe's best book. justly famous--it won the Newberry Medal-- it gives a vivid picture of life in Boston during the American Civil War. The characters are so alive they make you feel like you would know them by sight on the street. And the story itself is gripping,captivating; the plot well woven. It gives me such a thrill to see Johnny's growth and maturity from the cocky,smart, arrogant,likable but shallow boy into a 'real man'; as if I knew him personal More...

0 comments like

Apr 23, 2009

Josiah rated it:

Is this book the finest example of historical fiction to have ever been written for young readers? If not, I would certainly put it right up there near the top of the list.
"Johnny Tremain" is, in every purest, best sense of the word, a classic book that holds appeal to everyone who has an appreciation for truly Great (with a capital "G") literature. The sheer force of magnitude that drives the historical narrative outdistances all rivals, making the reader feel as if More...

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Jan 08, 2009

bookczuk rated it:

This was sooooo much fun to re-read. It was assigned reading in Mr Shaunessey's 7th grade Language Arts class at East Ladue Junior High back in the 60's. I didn't remember much of it to be honest, just that it was about a boy in Boston, during the Revolutionary War.

In the interim, I majored in history in college, read a whole lot more both fact and fiction on the Revolutionary War, lived in Charleston (where both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars has a huge impact) and married a man More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2010

Tayler rated it:

Johnny Tremain is one of my favorite books. At first, when my teacher assigned it, I was thinking,” Aw man, not another boring, historical novel,” but when I started to read it, I couldn’t put it down!!
The book, Johnny Tremain, is about a young man named Johnny Tremain living in the 18th century trying to learn how to become a silversmith, and also trying to find out exactly who he is. In the begging of the story, Johnny is a very big headed teenager who thinks he rules the world. A More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 24, 2009

Debbie (Readerbuzz) rated it:

I was familiar with the story, a tale from the American Revolution. A boy, a silversmith apprentice, burns his hand in an accident that occurs while working on a Sunday (illegally) in haste. The boy, Johnny Tremain, is left unable to work as a silversmith apprentice. He is filled with despair. He is befriended by a kind boy, Rab, and together they are able to earn money by caring for horses. The job allows the boys to come into contact with British soldiers and to obtain secret information the b More...

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