American Novels about the American Revolution

I've written a novel about the beginning of the American Revolution. I would like to start a discussion (pros and cons) about other novels of this time period that members have read. I'll start with "Oliver Wiswell" by Kenneth Roberts. This book emphasizes the fact that loyalists (and many Americans who did not wish to take sides during the war) were horribly treated by those who supported rebellion. (Read my review if you are interested) Roberts called the war America's first civil war. Contrast this perspective with Jeff Shaara's "Rise to Rebellion."

I still love Johnny Tremain, which I recently reread and still found terrific.

Eight years ago I began teaching my grandson how to read since he was having great difficulty in school. This went on for 2 years. I wrote over 120 two-page stories that incorporated words with different sounds; he eventually got caught up to grade level. He was the main character of all the stories. The last segment of stories had him, by way of a time machine, in Massachusetts (Boston and then Lexington) in 1775. He made friends with Johnny Tremain, who showed him around Boston, where he got to meet Paul Revere. My grandson was at Lexington when the British soldiers marched through on their way to Concord. "Johnny Tremain" is a fine book. Esther Forbes wrote it after her biography, "Paul Revere and the World He Lived In."

What a creative way to teach: and of course, resource intensive! Is that the novel you mention in >1 HaroldTitus:?

The novel I mentioned in >1 HaroldTitus: was what I was in the process of writing when I worked with my grandson. I used some of the material in that novel in my two-page stories that I had my grandson read. Thanks for asking.

Tim Curious by Roddy Thorleifson is one of the best novels seated in the American Revolution that I've read in a long time. It's as historically accurate as a novel can get. I've read a lot, but I still learned a few things. The plot, a murder mystery, kept me going. The dialogue was authentic without being difficult. I'm going to give it to my 12 year old nephew.

Adding touchstone for reference: Tim Curious.

A new title for me, it appears you are the first to review it and perhaps list it. When was it written?

Cannot go wrong with James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy and The Pilot!

I recently found an annotated bibliography of New Jersey Revolutionary War fiction. That’s my home state, so I’ll be digging into that.