Esther Forbes

Biography

Esther Forbes (1891-1967) was a Massachusetts native and professional historian before she was a novelist. Her biography Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942) won the Pulitzer Prize for History — making her the first woman to win it in that category. Johnny Tremain grew directly out of her Revere research: she had accumulated so much material on pre-revolutionary Boston that a novel was the natural next step. She wrote it during World War II, with a son in the service, and dedicated it to him. The novel won the 1944 Newbery Medal.

Esther Forbes at a glance