"Johnny Tremain"

     Oh good God, how I will never forget reading Johnny Tremain.  Written by Esther Forbes in 1943, Johnny Tremain tells the story of a young boy living in Boston, MA in the time leading up to the American Revolution.  Johnny is a young apprentice to a silversmith when he has an accident involving a cracked crucible ("It is a whore!" -The Crucible).  After burning his hand severely and fusing his thumb and palm together, Johnny realizes that he will never be able to be a silversmith like he had hoped and worked towards for the past several years.

     From this point on, Johnny spends the next half of the book being depressed and upset about his mangled hand.  He has no more family, so he must continue to live with the silversmith's family, getting a constant reminder everyday of the life he will never lead.  It is not until the very end anything interesting happens concerning the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere.  Overall, I would not recommend this book even to my worst enemy.  It is just too depressing and embarrassing to deal with.

I give it 1 out of 5 Wildes.