The Journal of William Thomas Emerson: A Revolutionary War Patriot, Boston, Massachusetts, 1774

My Name Is America

by Jim Murphy

William writes of his experiences in pre-Revolutionary War Boston where he joins the cause of the patriots

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, War, American Revolution

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the story but there are three reasons I couldn't give it five stars.
1. The entries all had titles instead of dates. It only ever said the season and year.
2. In general I am not a fan of the author's epilogues.
3. Historical note wasn't completely accurate.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was pretty dark. Yeah, war isn't a light subject, but Will slicing open the British soldier's face and leaving him to die was something I'd expect in an adult account.

Will also wasn't very likeable. There was no understanding of the other side, and having just read the Dear America diary of a girl who was part of a Loyalist/Tory family, it didn't bring my opinion of him any higher. Patriot he may be but did he have to delight at the tarring and feathering of a man, and the burning down of his home? There was also a point in which he threw a rotton egg at a prisoner's face. I really didn't like him.

Also, this started with Will losing his whole family to...a lightning strike? That was bizarre.

Oh, and having Will marry Becca, who not only had the same name as his dead sister, but who he also helped raised since she was under two years old was really creepy.

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading "The Winter of Red Snow", I decided to read more Dear America books about the Revolutionary War. I usually love Barry Denenberg's books, but the book seems more about William than about the Revolutionary War. Also, the ending is hypocritical. On the bright side, I can understand both sides of the motive of that war.

[Connor S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry Denenberg’s purpose of writing The Journal of William Thomas Emerson is to show what the experiences leading up to the Revolutionary war were like through a young Boston colonists perspective. Throughout the story, William Thomas Emerson a young man who was taken in by Mrs.Thompson and Mr.Wilson after his family tragically dies in. He does lots of chores around the tavern Mrs.Thompson owns and brings ink and candles to Mr.Wilson who is a profound writer who writes anti British articles for the newspaper. After gaining Mr. Wilson’s trust William starts to run missions for Mr. Wilson and his rebellious group of revolutionaries. During the story, Denenberg uses Williams diary entries and dialouge with other colonist to show the hatred most of the people of Boston have for the British soldiers who they call “Lobster Backs” and people who are still loyal to the crown. An example of this is when he describes how colonist put glass under Mr. Palmers (a loyalist) saddle so he was thrown off and he died as a result of the injury. This is shown when William says “However, in the summer of 1778 he went for a ride and, it is believed, someone placed glass shards under his saddle. As a result,he was thrown by his horse and seriously injured. He never recovered and died”(Denenberg 133). Also, William changed throughout the story by becoming more courageous and taking part in more dangerous missions. An example of William being courageous when in a fight with a much larger British soldier is “In one swift motion, I pulled my knife out of my boot, and before the rascal realized what was happening to him, I slit his nostril nearly in two, straight up his nose, to his eyes, and half off his ugly British face”(Denenberg 125). Finally, I gave this book three stars because I think this book could have been much better if Wiiliam’s experiences of when they were forced to house British soldiers and after most of the colonist left Boston were included

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written by Tommy, age 8.

I read this book for school. It has information about what it was like before the Revolutionary War. My favorite part of the book is when Will (the main character) spies. People who like history and people who do not need a lot of action in their books would like this book.

[Janis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book didn’t hang together that well. Tons of characters for a short book. An entry would be about somebody, and I couldn’t remember who they were. I’d do a kindle search & find they appear in no other entry of the journal, so there was a good reason I didn’t remember them. I found this to be very frustrating.

[Stella Battenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to try one of the My Name is America books, having read nearly ever Dear America book when I was a kid. I thought this would be a nice companion to The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1777. This book is set earlier, before the war, when tensions are rising and Boston is a powderkeg. Will observes the goings-on of revolutionaries and the people of Boston, and even engages in some surreptitious revolutionary activity himself. It was a nice exploration of this period of time, but it simply could not live up to its cousin in the Dear America line. The choice to not include dated entries was incredibly bizarre and made it impossible to use my knowledge of history to track the time, which is part of the point of these diary books. Overall dissatisfied by enjoyed it from the standpoint of a completionist.

[John D DeWeese · Rating 2 out of 5]

My son picked this book die to his love of Hamilton. Needless to say, it was a lot less entertaining. On the plus side, it’s well researched and includes some great details about what life was like in Boston during the Revolutionary War. However, because the book is written in “diary” style it jumps all over the place. In one chapter, the main character spies on the British for the patriots, but in the next he’s trimming candlesticks. Big events like the Boston Tea Party or Bunker Hill are mentioned in passing, and there’s no real payoff at the end. I might recommend it for 8th graders as a way to prepare them to read actual historic accounts, but it’s a rather dull read for younger folks.

A last note: the book is pretty traditional in how it portrays women and PoCs. That is, women bravely keep the home fires burning while the men rush off to spy and fight and the one Black character has maybe two pages dedicated to him. It wasn’t a deal breaker for me but I get that it could be for others looking for a more modern tale.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Another oddball diary by Barry Denenberg. This one was mostly likable, but it's far too short for everything Denenberg wanted to do. I do grudgingly appreciate the boldness of the intro, where Will casually tells how he was orphaned when his family's house was struck by lightning. There's a lot of bad luck going around with the characters in this book, including a death by beating, tar-and-feathering, and the random deaths of some off-page children that have nothing to do with the plot. Will also does some light espionage work, and even slashes right into a redcoat's face with his knife to avenge his murdered friend . But the spy thriller stuff is juxtaposed rather clunkily with the everyday scenes of mundane tavern chores and babysitting. Also, Will ends up marrying the girl he used to babysit as a toddler? Kind of awkward if you ask me. And in classic Denenberg fashion, the ending is really abrupt and happens right before some potentially interesting thing is about to happen.
Not one of the worst, but very uneven and oddly formatted, with the use of chapter headers instead of dates.

[**the True Snow Queen** · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry Denenberg is very hit or miss. I’ve read many of his Dear America/Royal Diaries/My Name Is America books. It’s apparent that he likes to be a bit more off the beaten path in his style (like the lack of entry dates, in this one). Sometimes his style is fantastic like When Will This Cruel War Be Over? or One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping. Or dull, like in So Far From Home or Elisabeth: The Princess Bride. And then you have the ones that fall flat, like this one or Early Sunday Morning. Just when it’s getting good and you’re finally invested... you turn the page and it’s the epilogue :( Overall he’s pretty good, but I was disappointed this time. Too long warming up and cut the story too short. 3.5 stars

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was weird how there were no dates ahead of the entires and instead they were told in groupings of like very very short stories. But it was still supposed to be a journal.
Reading about this time period from the POV of a young boy instead of a girl was interesting too because they did different things in their day to day lives. This one being a young boy living in Boston. Also giving a different POV than some other books taking place in different locations. Life in the city of Boston was definitely unique and scary during the years leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this story is fiction, there is a lot of historical information here. Plus maps and Prints of battle and the town that were directly involved in the beginning of the war. The photograph on the cover is an actual portrait of a child of that era, his name was Sir Joshua Reynolds's William Charles Colyear, Viscount Milsington ( 1747- 1824 ) Later Third Earl of Portmore. The photo shows him as a boy in 1759, Talk about a name !!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book "Journal Of William Thomas Emerson - My Name is America" is a pretty good book. It does has some not so good parts as well, like most books. I learned a lot from reading this book. Although it is a little bit hard to read since it is someone's journal from the 1700's. I read the whole the whole thing and am glad that I finished reading the book.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book ends when the war begins, so it is a good way to show how the city of Boston was changing leading up to the Revolutionary War. My students weren't as engaged in this as they have been with the Dear America books, but they still enjoyed it. The content of this book didn't lend itself to provide many opportunities to teach the state standards, but it was still enjoyed by my class.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd never read a boys' "Dear America" book before. I'm not sure if it was the style of this book in particular, or the whole series, but it was harder to follow. Instead of individual dates, each season was separated into chapters. This got confusing. Plus the end was rather abrupt, and the "epilogue" was just a list of who died when, not really a story.

[Yvonne O'Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a bit shocked that this was part of a specific list of fourth grade texts. The sheer graphic violence in this is a lot and it’s more about the delight Will has with it that I find over the top. He’s not a very relatable character and it was a hard boom to try and get my girls to finish given all of this.

[Abigail Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "My name is America" series has some decent books, and this one was alright. But I do prefer the story telling in the Dear America or Royal diary series over this series. This was a rather generic story and there was nothing throughout the book that really stood out to me as unique or really interesting, it was just another Revolutionary War story book.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good at showing how the Revolutionary War affected everyone in the colonies, even children. I liked the rather unique layout, breaking up into subjects rather than by days. Well written, again rather simple, as are most in the series, since they are aimed at younger children.

[Kynzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be better than the other books in the series but I was wrong. More entertaining than the other books and less repetitive (liked the funny parts) but ended SO ABRUPTLY and nothing amounted to anything

[Libby Bork · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitely accomplished the goal of feeling like it was real. It felt very rough and gritty. I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters, but I did enjoy Will. The very short plot line about Molly Davis and Colonel Matthew Chaney was a favorite.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, what one may expect from the series.

[Jia ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way shorter than I thought it was going to be (or maybe I just read super fast :)) . But a really good book.

[Karalynn Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this aloud to my 8 year old son.

[Lacey Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not really like this book so I stopped reading it.

[Rebecca McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy & quick read. Felt historically accurate, even if not then the author did a great job making you think that.

[Kate Standiford · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times dry, but overall it was able to keep my kid half attentive.

[Kit McAlear · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This character has no personality, so it made everything dull and uninteresting to read.

[Joan Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to read of the early beginning of America

This book reminds all of us of the sacrifices those men were willing to make to win the freedom we enjoy today.

[Kaycee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Journal of William Thomas Emerson gives the reader a picture of what life may have been like around the Revolutionary War period I'm Boston. It is written from the view of a 12-13 year old boy who after losing his family comes to work in a tavern where some revolutionaries would meet. He eventually takes part in some missions for the group. This book is told I. The form of a diary or journal entries. It gives a good idea of what was happening at the time from the inspector of a relatively young boy, though he has several responsibilities that adults would have taken on. The book progressively moves through the increasing tensions in Boston and the increasing hostilities of the British and the colonists. One thing that I really thought was unique about the book is that it is an unabashed view from a patriot not being afraid to show his views on the punishments or hardships the soldiers or the Tories would go through. I think this helps to give readers a more accurate view of the atmosphere and thoughts of the time. Overall it was good but I would have liked if the entries were marked with dates so that the timeline was a little easier to keep track of.

School Library Journal really complimented this book and especially liked the quality of historical fiction that it gives.