Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade historical adventure
• Originally Published: 1943
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 840L; grades 5-7
• Structure/Length: 12 chapters; approx. 322 pages; approx. 9 hours, 24 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Set in Boston in 1773, this Newbery Award-winning classic follows 14-year-old Johnny Tremain, who loses the use of his hand in a prideful accident and must abandon his intended profession of silversmithing. Johnny’s search for a new trade and path leads to his direct involvement in the early days of the American Revolution.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Wartime violence, racism, ableism, and brief offensive language

Esther Forbes, Author

• Bio: 1891-1967; born in Westborough, Massachusetts; won the O’Henry Prize for the short story “Breakneck Hill” in 1915; attended the University of Wisconsin; worked for Houghton Mifflin as a manuscript reader after returning to the Boston area; became a published novelist with O Genteel Lady! (1926); won a Pulitzer Prize for her biography Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942); awarded seven honorary degrees; became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1949); became a member of the American Antiquarian Society (first female; 1960)
• Other Works: O Genteel Lady! (1926); A Mirror for Witches (1928); Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942); The Running of the Tide (1948); Rainbow on the Road (1954)
• Awards: Newbery Medal winner (1944)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Surviving in a Changing World        
• Learning Humility and Empathy      
• Self-Sacrifice for the Greater Good

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the historical context regarding the American Revolutionary War that impacts Johnny Tremains’s setting and plot.
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Change, Humility, and Self-Sacrifice.
• Plan, design, and create a newspaper article that identifies key moments in the plot and character development based on novel details.
• Analyze and evaluate theme, motif, and other literary devices to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding Johnny’s friendships, the significance of the Lyte cup, and other topics.