Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
To read Johnny Tremain is to live through two dramatic years of our country's history, and to see these great events through the shrewd eyes of an observant boy. After injuring his hand, this silversmith's apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution. His new role brings Johnny Tremain in contact with the great men of history: John Hancock, John and Samuel Adams, and other Boston patriots. The story leads up to the Tea Party and Battle of Lexington. Ward has sharpened the drama of the story by adding full-page illustrations. 1944 Newbery Award.

Recorded Books (Recorded Books, LLC.)
There was a purpose in what happened to Johnny Tremain, but he couldn’t see it at the time. Johnny had been Mr. Lapham’s star pupil, a clever, industrious apprentice silversmith, if not always well liked, at least envied by all who knew him around Hancock’s Wharf. His skills had even been admired by Paul Revere, the finest silversmith in Boston. But when Johnny seriously burns his hand in a furnace, he finds himself crippled, without an occupation, and with no means of taking care of himself. It seems that fate has literally dealt him a cruel hand. Soon, trouble reaches Johnny’s life in a new way. Swept along in the tide of events leading to the Boston Tea Party and the first skirmishes of Lexington and Concord, Johnny finds a job as message-carrier for the Sons of Liberty. As young and old men alike make sacrifices for a new country, Johnny prepares to take his own stand in the cause for freedom.