Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Challenge Questions
100
Dove is violently pro-British; he considers himself part of the British army.
What political position does Dove hold?
100
Even though Dr. Church is in the "inner circle", Paul Revere doesn't trust him.
Why doesn't Paul Revere give Dr. Church any information?
100
The British play "Yankee Doodle" to insult the colonists.
What song do the British troops play to insult the Yankees (colonists)?
100
The majority of the troops in Boston are the dead or wounded. With his stark, clean uniform, Johnny stands out too much, so he rips and dirties it.
Why does Johnny get his uniform dirty?
100
Johnny and Cilla are two dynamic characters.
Who are the dynamic characters in the novel?
200
Pumpkin will hide his musket in the Lytes' barn for Rab in exchange for Johnny helping disguise and smuggle Pumpkin out of the army.
What deal does Johnny make with Pumpkin?
200
Johnny waits to long to say goodbye to Rab and before he can make it out the door, Rab is gone.
What does Johnny wait too long to do?
200
Aunt Jenifer hides him in the feather bed she was sewing.
How does Uncle Lorne keep from being arrested?
200
It turns out Rab was gravely injured during the Battle of Lexington, and knowing how much Rab means to Johnny, Dr. Warren warns Johnny not to cry or take on.
Why does Dr. Warren tell Johnny to play a man's part?
200
Rab and Isannah are two static characters.
Who are the static characters in the novel?
300
Each Minute Man has to sacrifice paper and pewter make bullets and cartridges to fit his gun.
What does each Minute Man need to make to fit his gun?
300
Johnny loves Rab like a brother and looks up to Rab. He doesn't want to be left alone and looks at Rab's leaving like a deserting.
Why does Johnny have such a hard time with Rab's departure?
300
He knows that in a matter of time, the great British army standing in front of him will be shooting at the rag-tag team of rebels in Concord, and he doesn't think the rebels stand a chance.
Why does the sight of the British Army make Johnny feel sick?
300
Before the war, Rab had sulked and moped for a proper gun, but after he got it, he never got the chance to actually use it.
What is the irony surrounding Rab's musket?
300
Rab and all the Whigs and Tories fight for freedom. Through thick and thin, they will never stop fighting for their cause.
How do the last lines relate to the main characters in the book?
400
Uncle Lorne arranged for one of the Silsbees of Lexington to smuggle the newspapers out in his farm wagon.
What is the new delivery system for 'The Observer' outside of Boston?
400
Robert Newman would hang one lantern in the spire of Christ's Church if the British were moving by land, and two lanterns if they were going by sea. The spire of Christ's Church could be seen well from Charlestown.
How are the people of Charleston to be told if the British are moving out of Boston by land or sea?
400
Johnny's mother was named Vinny, and according to Lavinia, she was the wildest, handsomest girl in Boston. Johnny's father was a naval surgeon, a Frenchman, and a Catholic. Johnny's parents were married by a ship's captain (the Lyte's forbid Vinny from marrying him, but she did it anyway). Johnny's father died, and Vinny was sent to a convent, where she gave birth to Johnny three months after his father died. Vinny's maid helped she and Johnny escape the convent to Maine, where Johnny grew up.
What does Lavinia tell Johnny about his parents?
400
Dr. Warren breaks the news to Johnny: Rab is dead. Rab had sent Johnny away because he knew that he was going to die.
What does Dr. Warren tell Johnny when he returns to Buckman's Tavern?
400
The last three sentences talk about how even though many fighters are dead, the fight for freedom will never die, because the men fight for their own rights, for their ability to live freely.
What do the last three sentences of the book mean?
500
Johnny's mother had known so little about the working world, she had not known that a silversmith's apprentice didn't wear smocks, but she had made them anyway. Johnny had scorned the smocks too much to realize how much work and love his mother had put into making the smocks, and how much his mother had loved him, even working to protect Johnny up until she died.
What does Johnny realize about the smocks his mother made for him?
500
According to a barmaid, Paul Revere was being safely rowed to Charlestown, and Billy Dawes had successfully made it past the British guards on the Neck.
What does Johnny hear about Revere and Dawes?
500
Johnny risks being shot for impersonating a British soldier in wartime. However, he has a duty to fulfill: he needs to gather information on the British troops' movements and the names of any the British arrest or kill, then report to Dr. Warren. In order to do so, he needs to sneak over to Charlestown with the British.
What is Johnny risking by putting on Pumpkin's uniform? Why does he do that?
500
The Green is in ruins. Johnny thinks about the men who had stood there, and how they had all died defending the Green, though their cause was hopeless.
Why does the sight of the Lexington Green bring Johnny close to tears?
500
Rab and tons of others are dead, but the cause for freedom is so strong, it will never die.
How do the last sentences of the book relate to the theme of freedom?
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