Book Summaries

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Set during the American Revolution,

Johnny (the protagonist) is a silversmith apprentice and is on his way to
being a great silversmith with his own shop. His ability, however, has went
to his head and he is not kind to his underlings working for Mr. Lapham. A
challenging order comes in requested by John Hancock and Johnny sets out
to compete it. An accident occurs and damages his hand beyond repair.
Ceasing his ability to perform as the apprentice to Mr. Lapham, he is relieved
of his position and is sent on his way. The adventure begins. His deceased
mother informed him that he was related to a wealthy family, the Lytes
(Tories). Johnny presents himself to the Lytes and shows the cup his mother
had given him to prove his heritage. Instead of being welcomed into the Lyte
family he is accused of stealing the cup and is arrested. Johnny is freed by
the court, becomes a worker for the local revolutionary newspaper The
Boston Observer after he was befriended by Rab. Working here opens a
whole new world to Johnny. He gets steeped in revolutionary thought, takes
part in the Boston Tea Party, aids in relaying messages for the rebels and
spies on the British. The climax is the aftermath of the battles of Lexington
and Concord. The fight for rights as a Son of Liberty suggests We give all
we haveeven life itselfonly that a man can stand up. The novel ends on
a hopeful note in which Johnny agrees to an operation to fix his mangled
hand that will allow him to take up Rabs(died at the beginning of the war)
musket to fight.
My Brother Sam is Dead by James L. Collier and Christopher Collier My
Brother Sam is Dead is set in Redding, Connecticut on the eve of the
American Revolution following a family, the Meekers, through the trials of the
war. The fathers a loyalist as is most of the town. Sam, attends Yale and
comes home for a visit to inform his family that he will be joining the
Continental Army. All the action is seen through the eyes of the youngest son
and Sams brother, Tim. During Sams visit, Sam and his father argue and
Sam leaves after stealing his fathers Brown Bess (land Pattern Musket). The
crevice of the Meeker family continues to grow into polarized positions with
the father remaining staunchly Loyalist and Sam fighting for the rebels. Tim
watches the action unfold unable to participate for either side at first,
weighing both sides. While accompanying his father on a trip to sell the
familys beef, his father is stopped by a band of brigands, taken prisoner
leaving Tim alone. As the war increases, Tim and the town begin to feel its
affects. One of Tims friends is decapitated; another friend is captured by
the British. After a year of no word from his father, Tim finds out that his
father had died on a prison ship from an outbreak of cholera. Tims brother
Sam is framed from a stealing cattle scandal and is executed by the
Continental Army which he serves. As the story unfolds, Tim develops his

own feelings of the war and explains what it is like for a family during the
American Revolution.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare The Witch of
Blackbird Pond is set in the early days of the New World after Puritans,
Quakers, and Pilgrims have landed and set up towns. The protagonist
Katherine (Kit) Tyler is forced to leave Barbados after the death of her
grandfather. She arrives in Wethersfield, Connecticut to live with her
remaining family. Everything is different for her in the New World. She no
longer has servants/slaves and is expected to work along with the rest of the
family. She finds herself settling in as a teacher of the dame school for the
local children. She befriends Prudence, a student whose doll she swam to
save and Hannah Tupper a local Quaker. An illness sweeps through the town
killing many. Due to Puritan suspicion, Hannah (an outsider because of her
religion) is accused of being a witch and condemning the population to suffer
from the illness. Kit risks her life to safe Hannah by warning her and getting
her to a ship to leave the area. Afterward, the townspeople turn to Kit as the
culprit of their woes and accuses her of witchery as well. Remaining silent at
her witchcraft trial, local townspeople come to her defense. This defuses the
witchcraft hysteria that is trying to grip the town. Kit, absolved of all crime,
remains in Connecticut to spend her days with her handsome captain Nat
whom aided Hannah in her escape.
Johnny Tremain And the Rest of the Story
Johnny Tremain has major revolutionary characters within its pages,
from John Hancock and Paul Revere, to Samuel Adams. A great opportunity
to include inquiry based learning in the classroom with this novel is the
teaching idea And the Rest of the Story. And the Rest of the Story engages
the student in the novel by research of a particular figure of the American
Revolution. The student will locate the information (through library, internet,
etc.) and will present the rest of the story in a media form to the class. The
idea is to engage the student to discover other information about the figure
that they know about in passing. Allowing the choice of subject is
motivational as the student has more interest in the subject and are more
interested in sharing their information to the class. Curiosity is the key and
many students will ignite their own personal inquiries on subjects of their
choosing prompting them to do personal research outside of the classroom.
My Brother Sam is Dead Debates
This novel opens itself up to engaging the students in the foundations
of the British control over the New World and the rebels understanding of
their personal situation. Students will do research, develop arguments, and
state their arguments in a formal debate in class. Using debate, students

have the opportunity to development persuasive arguments, present their

ideas, and interact with their peers. Groups work well with this exercise as
each individual will get to discuss their ideas and research in discussion
before putting their ideas together and develop those ideas into a persuasive
argument. The setting for debate can be a mock British Parliament a group
of students who have researched well the situation or a place in early
America with a Revolutionary Board made up of both British and American
citizens. At the end of the debate, the Parliament or Revolutionary Board will
discuss at length the presented information and decide whether or not to
allow the New World to be an individual country or not. This exercise allows
the students to get comfortable speaking in front of the class and develop
solid arguments for each side expanding their knowledge base.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond Informational Art Books
The Witch of Blackbird Pond set in 1687, shortly before the infamous
Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. This period is a time in which things were
changing for the New World as people were migrating with different religions
and ethnicities. Therefore, a teaching idea that includes creativity might
make the novel exciting to research and create Informational Art Books for
the class to discuss. This can be done electronically or on paper, whichever
the student feels comfortable with. Several themes can be researched for
the informational art book clothing for men, women, and children, witch
hunts/trials, Puritan foods, Puritan religion, suspicions, merchant ships, etc.
The student will have the ability to pick a topic and research it, discuss it
with the class, and present their information in the form of an informational
art book. All students will be able to read a diverse range of topics to get a
rounded picture of the time and culture. The Informational Art Books gives
students the ability to creatively illustrate their research and learn through
their experience of research.

References
Collier, James L. & Collier, Christopher. (1974). My Brother Sam is Dead. New
York, New York: Scholastic.
Forbes, Esther. (1943). Johnny Tremain. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton
Mifflin.
Speare, Elizabeth George. (1958). The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Boston,
Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin.
Websites for Teachers
Struggling Adolescent Readers: A Collection of Teaching Strategies http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED441223

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity:

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/EDU_KidsCantWait.html
Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/hooking-strugglingreaders-using-books-they-can-and-want-read
Strategies for Struggling Readers: A Teacher Resource Guide:
http://www.lawanddemocracy.org/pdffiles/wtp.lit.level2.pdf