Johnny Tremain

Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes is a historical fiction book about the life of a teenage boy. The book takes place in Boston, in the late 1700s. That was a time when all of Boston was in anticipation of the Revolutionary War, and plans were being made to fight the British. During these years, there was strong political support for either Whigs, or Tories.

The story follows Johnny Tremain, an apprentice silversmith for the Laphams. Johnny has always  been Mr.Lapham's best apprentice, but one day, he burns his hand in silver and became crippled. he struggles to find work in some other field. Over the course of this time, Johnny meets many of the revolutionary leaders of the day, including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Joseph Warren. Johnny was also involved in the Boston Tea Party, and had friends who fought in the Battle of Lexington.

The story is very interesting and taught me a lot about those times. It is a good read, and anybody interested in historical fiction should read it.

My rating is 7+ out of 10

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie is a detective novel, and another Poirot book. It is easily one of the best mystery novels I have ever read, with a very good story. It is also very hard as the reader, to figure out the solution.

Hercule Poirot is going back home to London on The Orient Express. While on the train, an American businessman, Mr.Ratchett is murdered, and the circumstances are such that almost every solution posed by Poirot or his companions are impossible. 

This book also includes many things that make it even more interesting. For, instance, most of the book takes part on a train, and you can see how trains were a long time ago. Also, the suspects are from many different countries, and rise from many different backgrounds. In most mystery stories, one can guess what the solution is fairly early, but this is such that you can only figure it out at the end, after all the evidence is given, and Poirot sits down to "Think". This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in mysteries. 

I rate this 9 out of 10