Student Book Review:
My Brother Sam is Dead
by:Chris and James Collier
Review done by:
Trevor Gavin
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY
My Brother Sam is Dead
is a very interesting and good book to read. The book takes place during the Revolutionary
War in the United States.
The book is narrated by Sam's brother Tim. Tim learns about war, life, and how to
take things into your own hands. The book starts off with Tim waiting for his brother
to come how from Yale University. Sam comes how dressed like a Patriot Soldier.
The first words that Sam's dad said were, "Do right and then socialize". After this,
I learned that Sam's dad was a very strict man. Sam explains why he is wearing the
uniform. Sam's dad calls him a little soldier boy and says that he is not allowed
to take the families Brown Bess (a gun around the Revolutionary War time period). In the
morning, Sam has stolen the Brown Bess and run off to fight. A few days later Tim
realizes that Sam would be staying in Tom Warrups hut (last Indian in Redding) since
Sam would take Tim there when he was young.
Tim is told not to tell Father and Mother about were Sam is staying. Tim goes back
to the hut a second time to check in on Sam. This time, he was with his girlfriend
Betsy Reed. Tim finds out that Sam is going off to war to fight for the Patriot
Army even though his family are Loyalist. From this point on, the book tells about the
problems this family faces when the war comes to their community, and it shows how
terrible it is when two members of the same family have different opinions about
which side they should be on - the King's or the Patriots'.
I would recomend this book because it is easy to keep track of characters. This is
good for a reader who likes Historical Fiction and a well writen book.
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