Johnny Tremain 75th Anniversary Edition

This book is about a fictional boy living in Boston on the eve of the American Revolution. The story is about growing up, but it is also about politics and war. Johnny is not an ideal hero. He has some character flaws, and sometimes he is not very nice. In the end, Johnny believes in the ideals of the rebels and tries to help them. He learns that war destroys people even if their cause is just.

This book about the American war for independence was written after the United States joined World War II. Lots of things are different from the days in the English colonies, but some things are the same, like making and keeping friends, or learning about your family. Sometimes I didn’t like Johnny, but the character seems like a real person–maybe like an annoying older brother.

This new edition has a cover illustration and cartoon introduction by Nathan Hale, who writes graphic novels on historical subjects. At the end of the book, Hale draws portraits of seven real people (all men) who are characters in Johnny Tremain. This is a good book, and it gets very exciting in a scary way when the colonies and England move closer to war. However, there is really only one girl character in the book, and she has a small part. The boys get all the action in this story.