Esther Forbes's Johnny Tremain (1943)

Dolls of Our Lives

Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney

Society & Culture, History

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2024

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This month we tackled a much-requested book: Esther Forbes's Johnny Tremain (1943). For some authors, winning a Newbery Medal would be enough. Others might dip out after a Pulitzer Prize. Esther Forbes won a Newbery and a Pulitzer within a few years--all while a war was on.

During this episode, we discuss Forbes's fascinating career (read as: obsession with Paul Revere). Against this backdrop, we also track Johnny Tremain's puzzling journey from apprentice to American revolutionary. At the start of the book, Tremain is yet another young man trying to make his way in colonial Boston. Then, an injury forces Tremain to rethink his career plans, his love life, and the stories he's been told about his lineage. Despite the challenges in front of him, Tremain somehow feels both despondent and totally prepared to pivot from "aspiring silversmith" to international super spy/soldier. We talk about Tremain's transformation, the timing of the book's publication, and the author's push for men to "stand up" and fight.

Next month? We ditch silversmiths and follow Ambassador Kwan in her pursuit of the gold.

Original air date: January 28, 2022

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome everyone to American Girls. This is the podcast where we're reliving the American girls series book by book except here on Patreon where we're doing sometimes whatever we want but on this episode something you want and you know which is lives in the
0:25.9	world of our show so today we are gathered to discuss truly an event I'll call it
0:32.2	it is a book technically it's it's something that has happened to us
0:37.0	it's called Johnny Tremaine I'm Mary I'm Allison the Silversmith the Silversmith the Silversmith wow I'm Allison the Silver Smith. The Silver Smith. Wow. I'm Dove or Scylla or Paula Revere.
0:50.0	Hey, if you don't remember anything about this book that was written during World War II,
0:56.0	that's fine because we don't either.
0:58.0	We truly, we messes each other and we're like, we, I have no memory of anything that occurred in this book it's
1:07.7	I want yet another moment on this show where I'm like do I have Alzheimer's real talk have I forgotten everything.
1:14.0	There's no way that we have read this book because there are images in this book that were borderline
1:19.5	adult content that I know would have been seared into my memory. We have come to the conclusion
1:25.5	that we have both collapsed. The plot of this book with my brother Sam is
1:30.2	dead. Yes, which I will say in terms of illustrations I that cover image from my
1:36.6	brother Sam is dead is seared into my mind and though I did not grow up to be
1:42.3	actually interested in that like I remember being like, whoa,
1:46.1	whoever that man is.
1:47.1	I want to tell you, my cover is the Jonathan Taylor Thomas version of Donish
1:51.3	for me.
1:51.8	Yes, mine too.
1:53.4	I have the haughty with the layered hair.
1:55.7	If you like Disney Channel original movies
1:58.2	in the early ats, this man is ripped straight from that.
2:01.7	He could have been on an episode of So Weird. This is a classic award
	...

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