The American
Revolution:
Our Literary Legacy
In 1943, Esther Forbes was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in his- tory for her work on Paul Revere and the World He Lived In. Only
the second woman in history to win this
distinction, it is ironic that it was not for
this achievement that Forbes became a
household name but rather for her children’s novel Johnny Tremain, winner of
the Newbery Medal in 1944. While inspirations for works of art are multiple
and varied, Cornelia Meigs has noted
in her A Critical History of Children’s
Literature that it was Forbes’ work in
Paul Revere that acquainted the author
with the “apprentice boys of Boston and
the part they played in the Revolution.
Although they may have changed the
tide of events many times, history has
paid them neither honor nor blame and
they have been lost in the crowd of ordinary unknown people for whom and by
whom wars are fought.”
1
. . . It was Forbes’ work
in Paul Revere that
acquainted the author
with the “apprentice
boys of Boston and the
part they played in the
Revolution.”
erty. Indeed, as recently as 2005, Myron
Levoy, the children’s author and litera-
ture critic, described Johnny Tremain as
“one of the great children’s novels of all
time.”
3 Long a staple for middle-elemen-
tary students studying American his-
tory, the novel explores the issues of the
Revolution through the eyes of a star
silversmith apprentice who is perma-
nently handicapped by the cruel actions
of a fellow apprentice. Not an endearing
character to begin with, Johnny’s resulting
54;May;2012;•;The;Literary;Homeschooler
fall from power and grace exposes all the
human frailties of loneliness, despair,
angst, lost love, and broken dreams—ul-
timately developing a character that all
readers can identify with. Befriended by a
kind and generous Son of Liberty, Johnny
eventually (but painfully) finds his way
back to meaning and purposefulness. All
of these important life lessons take place
against a backdrop of key historical char-
acters and events during the American
colonies’ struggle for independence.
