Johnny Tremain facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Johnny Tremain

First edition (US)
Author	Esther Forbes
Illustrator	Lynd Ward
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Historical novel
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin (US) Chatto & Windus (UK)
Publication date	1943 (US), 1944 (UK)
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
ISBN	0-440-44250-8
OCLC	21002210
LC Class	MLCS 2006/43879 (P)

Johnny Tremain is an exciting historical novel written in 1943 by Esther Forbes. It takes place in Boston just before and during the start of the American Revolution. The book was written for young readers like you!

It explores important ideas such as learning a trade (apprenticeship), friendship, bravery, and fighting for human rights. It also shows the growing disagreements between the Patriots (who wanted independence) and the Loyalists (who supported Britain).

The story includes famous events like the Boston Tea Party, the British closing off the Port of Boston, Paul Revere's famous midnight ride, and the first battles of the war at Lexington and Concord.

Johnny Tremain won the 1944 Newbery Medal, which is a big award for children's books. By the year 2000, it was one of the bestselling children's books in the United States. In 1957, Walt Disney Pictures even made a movie based on the book.

The Story of Johnny Tremain

Johnny's Accident and New Start

The story begins on July 23, 1773, in Boston. We meet Johnny, a talented 14-year-old apprentice silversmith. He works for an older man named Ephraim Lapham. Everyone expects Johnny to marry Mr. Lapham's granddaughter, Cilla, one day. This would keep the silversmith shop in the family.

Soon, the shop gets a big order from a rich merchant, John Hancock. He needs a special silver dish. While working on this important order, Johnny's hand gets badly burned. Another apprentice, Dove, who is jealous of Johnny, purposely gives him a broken pot for the hot silver.

Johnny's hand is hurt so badly that he can no longer work as a silversmith. This injury crushes Johnny's pride. He feels useless, only good for small errands. So, he leaves to find a new job that he can do with his injured hand.

Finding a New Path

After many people turn him away, Johnny feels very sad. While looking for work, he meets a friendly young typesetter named Rab Silsbee at a print shop.

Johnny then decides to ask for help from Mr. Lyte, a wealthy Boston merchant. Johnny's mother had told him that they were related. She said to go to Mr. Lyte if he ever needed help. Johnny shows Mr. Lyte a silver cup with the Lyte family symbol as proof.

But Mr. Lyte claims the cup was stolen from him! Johnny is arrested because people think he stole it. Luckily, Rab helps Johnny. He brings Cilla to court, and she tells everyone that Johnny had shown her the cup before the supposed theft. Because of Cilla's testimony, Johnny is set free.

Life at the Observer

Johnny finds a new job delivering the Boston Observer newspaper every week. The Observer is a newspaper that supports the Whigs, who are the Patriots fighting for American rights. Through his new friend Rab, Johnny learns a lot about the politics in Boston before the Revolution.

Johnny also learns to ride and care for Goblin, a beautiful but sometimes difficult horse used for deliveries. He moves in with Rab in the attic above the newspaper shop.

Growing Tensions and the Boston Tea Party

As months pass, the disagreements between the Whigs (Patriots) and Tories (Loyalists) grow stronger. Johnny becomes a strong Patriot himself. He also grows up and starts to see his relationships differently. Cilla becomes a trusted friend and also supports the Patriots.

Johnny and Rab both take part in the famous Boston Tea Party. In this event, Boston Patriots throw a whole ship full of tea into the harbor. They do this because they refuse to pay a tax on the tea that the British Parliament made without their agreement.

In response, Britain sends its army to Boston and closes the port. This causes a lot of hardship for the people of Boston, who rely on trade. Rab soon decides to leave the Observer and become a soldier. Johnny helps him get a musket (a type of gun) for fighting.

At the end of the book, we learn that Rab was shot in battle. Before he dies, he gives the musket back to Johnny. A local doctor offers to operate on Johnny's hand to fix it. The story ends with Johnny accepting the doctor's offer, ready for what comes next.

Main Characters in the Story

The novel features both made-up characters and real people from history.

Fictional Characters

• Johnny Tremain: The main character of the story. He is a talented but sometimes proud 14-year-old. He starts as a silversmith apprentice. After his hand is badly burned, he has to find a new job. Johnny was born in France.
• Rab Silsbee: Johnny's first true friend and a great role model. He is two years older than Johnny, brave, and admired by many. He doesn't care about Johnny's injured hand. Rab introduces Johnny to the Patriot movement. He is a strong Patriot and a member of the Sons of Liberty. Rab is sadly wounded in the Battle of Lexington.
• Priscilla "Cilla" Lapham: She is a little younger than Johnny. Before Johnny's accident, it was planned that they would marry. Over time, Cilla and Johnny become very good friends and care deeply for each other. She works for the Lyte family.
• Isannah "Izzy" Lapham: The youngest daughter of Mrs. Lapham. She is a very beautiful but delicate nine-year-old. At first, she is sweet, but she becomes selfish and vain. Her beauty attracts Lavinia Lyte, who takes Isannah to live with her in a wealthy household.
• Ephraim Lapham: Johnny's kind and religious silversmith master at the start of the book. He is old and frail and dies soon after Johnny leaves his apprenticeship.
• Mr. Percival Tweedie: A man from Baltimore who becomes Mr. Lapham's business partner after Johnny's accident. Johnny calls him a "Squeak-Pig."
• Mrs. Lapham, later Mrs. Tweedie: Ephraim Lapham's daughter-in-law. She is a hardworking mother and strict with the apprentices. She marries Mr. Tweedie to keep the silversmith shop in the family.
• Dorcas Lapham: Mrs. Lapham's second daughter. She wants to be elegant. She falls in love with a poor man named Frizel, Jr., and runs off to marry him to avoid marrying Mr. Tweedie.
• Madge Lapham: Mrs. Lapham's oldest daughter. She is tough and capable, like her mother. She falls in love with Sergeant Gale, a British soldier, and runs off to marry him.
• Dove: Another apprentice in the Lapham shop. He is older than Johnny but not very smart. He is often mean to Johnny. He tries to steal tea during the Boston Tea Party. Later, he works caring for British officers' horses.
• Dusty Miller: Mr. Lapham's youngest apprentice. He looked up to Johnny before the accident. After Johnny leaves, Dusty runs away to sea.
• Mr. Lorne: Rab's master and uncle. He owns the print shop that publishes the Boston Observer, a Patriot newspaper.
• Mrs. Jenifer Lorne: Mr. Lorne's wife and Rab's aunt. She is kind to Johnny and becomes like a mother to him. She has a baby son whom Johnny nicknames "Rabbit."
• Jonathan Lyte: A very rich Boston merchant and Johnny's great-uncle. He is dishonest and tries to make money from both sides of the conflict. He is a Loyalist (Tory). He leaves for London when the war is about to begin.
• Lavinia Lyte: Jonathan Lyte's beautiful daughter. She is a popular socialite in Boston. She is charmed by Isannah's beauty and takes her to live in the Lyte household. She is also Johnny's cousin.
• Mrs. Bessie: The Lyte family's cook. She is Cilla's only friend in the Lyte house. Mrs. Bessie is a strong Patriot but remains loyal to her employers. She and Cilla are left to care for the Lyte house when the family leaves Boston.
• Lavinia "Vinny" Lyte Tremain: Johnny's mother. She died before the story begins. She was born Lavinia Lyte and was a beautiful but wild young woman. Her family disowned her for marrying Charles Tremain.
• Charles Tremain: Johnny's father. He was a French naval surgeon who became a British prisoner of war. He met Johnny's mother in Boston. They married and traveled to France, where he died.
• Lydia: An African washerwoman who works at the Afric Queen tavern, where many British officers stay. She helps the Patriots by gathering information from the British soldiers.
• Sewall: A poor relative of the Lytes who works in Jonathan Lyte's office. He is kind and brave and joins the Minute Men.
• Pumpkin: A British private soldier in Boston. He secretly supports the Patriots and dreams of owning land in America. Johnny helps him leave the army to get his musket for Rab. Pumpkin is caught and executed.
• Sergeant Gale: A British soldier who marries Madge Lapham. He is described as short but tough.
• Lieutenant Stranger: A friendly but sometimes proud British officer in Boston. He becomes a mild friend to Johnny.

Historical Figures

• Samuel Adams: A very important political leader of the American Revolution. He wrote many papers to inspire people to fight for freedom.
• John Hancock: One of the wealthiest men in Boston and a leader of the Patriots. Johnny's hand is injured while making a silver basin for him.
• Doctor Joseph Warren: A key leader of the Patriots in Boston. At the end of the novel, he prepares to operate on Johnny's hand.
• Paul Revere: The best silversmith in Boston and an important Patriot. He is famous for his midnight ride to warn the Minute Men that British soldiers were coming.
• James Otis, Jr.: A lawyer who helped shape the ideas of the American Revolution. In the book, he inspires the Patriot leaders to fight for the rights of all people.
• Governor Thomas Hutchinson: The governor of Massachusetts before the British army took control.
• Thomas Gage: The British General and military governor of Boston during the occupation.
• John Pitcairn and Francis Smith: British commanding officers at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
• Josiah Quincy II: A young lawyer and member of the Sons of Liberty. He defends Johnny in court when the Lytes accuse him of theft.
• Doctor Benjamin Church: A doctor who is an ally of Samuel Adams.

See also

In Spanish: Johnny Tremain para niños