Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Historical Fiction!
Review: Esther Forbes' story of young Boston boy's adventures during the early days of the American Revolution, "Johnny Tremain," is a classic of children's historical fiction. As such it has been required reading for generations of middle school students, and assigned reading material, regardless of quality, will always raise the hackles of some students. Thus the bad reviews here should be taken with a grain of salt.The strength of this book is how it weaves the fictional story of Johnny Tremain, who had been a promising silversmith apprentice until an accident crippled his hand, with the historical events and people of Revolutionary era Boston. Johnny deals with the loss of his trade, his attempt to reclaim his birthright, a burgeoning romance with the daughter of his former master, and an increasing involvement with the revolutionary activities of the Sons of Liberty. The book brings to life the era of the Revolution and reminds the reader that the simple hope "that a man can stand up" did not come without tragedy. "Johnny Tremain" is a true classic, and makes for a great read. (Even TV's worst student, Bart Simpson, loved reading it- "They should call this book Johnny Deformed Hand.")
Rating: 
Summary: Johnny Tremain KCS
Review: This is the worst book I've ever (tried to) read! It was boring, it was stupid, and it was worthless. Our class had to rad it for school. One girl actually threw it in her fireplace when she was done reading it. Even some of the parents disliked it. I LOATHE this book. LOATHE IT LOATHE IT HATE IT! I am the fastest reader in my class and it took me 10 minutes to read one page! I agree with the other three reviewers who hate this book. All they ever talk about is how sad everyone is that they have to go to war and blah blah blah. Well WE DON'T CARE! THUMBS DOWN!
Rating: 
Summary: Johnny Tremain
Review: I can't lay claim to being a rabid fan of historical fiction now, but when I was younger that was all I read, so I do know it well. Johnny Tremain, in my opinion, is a worthy read once and maybe twice, but not worth buying. It is about a young boy who lives during pre-Revolutionary War times. Johnny was going to be a silversmith, but an accident with the silver ruined one of his hands forever. He gets turned out on his [...] by the family he was apprenticed to, goes looking for work, has a few problems with his heritage, finds work, does some things with the British, his friend dies, and he's ready to fight.
One of the only redeeming qualities of this book is the writing style, which is wonderful. Forbes just should have picked a different topic. The content of this book is boring, the plot, non-existent. My eyes droop just thinking about reading it.
Needless to say, you should look into it, especially if you like historical fiction. Check it out at the library first, then look into buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant and gripping historical novel
Review: I must have read this book ten? twenty? times as a teenager, and so when I found it recently in the basement I started reading again to see if it was really as good as I remembered it. Better! "Johnny Tremain" is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read, even as an adult. So imagine my surprise when I noticed that Amazon readers rated this only four stars?
For starters, this is not a children's book. I see fourth, fifth graders reviewing this book, as part of an assignment - and as a mother myself, this bothers me. This is a great book - but, I think, way over a fifth-graders head. Maybe *your* fifth-grader is brilliant and will absolutely understand everything completely - but for a classroom setting? What are these teachers thinking?
But for a teenager - "Johnny Tremain" brings to life the times of the Revolutionary War era as no other book, or history lesson, possibly can. Couple that with a brilliantly portrayed cast of characters - complex, vivid characters - and exceptionally vivid, emotional and fast paced writing - and you have the ingredients for a really good book. Maybe I am prejudiced - I love historicals, and always did, but perhaps it is the other way around - perhaps "Johnny Tremain" influenced me in the way that this book showed me how fascinating history can be.
"Johnny Tremain" is the story of a boy - fourteen years old - who is apprenticed to a silversmith, whom he calls his "master". As an exceptionally capable, talented young man - not to mention an exceptional aptitude with silver - he quickly steps into his master's family to find his niche as the head of the household - if not in name, then in actions (beint that his master is elderly). But how easily are the mighty fallen! For Johnny burns his hand on hot silver and, medicine (or midwifery) being what it was, it never healed properly. A future as a silversmith is out. Overnight, Johnny went from being a capable, bright boy with an exceptional future ahead of him to a nobody.
While this is an excellent story about Johnny, it is the times that he lived in that makes this book such riveting reading. Not only do we get to meet all the famous people who populate pre-Revolutionary Boston, we also get an excellent, clear picture of the everyday life of the people of that era. The way they lived, the things they ate, the way they operated - almost everything is touched upon in this extra-ordinary novel.
Johnny Tremain somehow gets tangled with the Boston patriots - and is right there in the thick of things just as the Revolutionary War has started. This is the only part of the novel that I found a bit too coincidental - but extremely interesting, nevertheless.
"Johnny Tremain" is one of the best books ever written, but would more easily be appreciated and understood by an older student, in my opinion. Happy reading!
Rating:
Summary: UGH!!!!!
Review: I had to read this book for school, and the only reason i finished it was because i had to!! it was so dull that my normally fine attention span was about a sentence. I had to keep re-reading each page about 5 times before i could go on. i defitnaly do not reccomend this book if you are looking for a good book. All the people i know who have read it, do not like it. It is defitnaly not A good read for a 6th grade class. :(
Rating:
Summary: Blech!
Review: This book was good because it has an interesting plot. There is a lot of action and adventure in the story and you should definitely read it if you are interested in the Revolutionary War and the events leading up to it. There was one problem though. I felt it wasn't as well written as it could be. Esther Forbes book had a lot of short, choppy sentences which created a low amount of fluency and a lot of bitter staccato notes.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Historical Fiction
Review: This book altered my perception of, and fed my love for, history as a kid. It is a good read -- filled with action, intrigue; and, indeed, it gives you a sense of the sights, sounds, and smells of 18th century Boston. Basically the story is about Johnny -- a hapless, male "Cinderella" who burns his hand with molten silver (OUCH!!! The story brings the agony of that event painfully to life), likes the smell, but not the taste of coffee; generously gives limes to a whiny, naggy girl whom he fancies; then gets killed at Bunker Hill. So, life sucks, then you die. A very philosophical work. It ends like a French movie.
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