My Brother Sam Is Dead
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| Author | James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult historical-fiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster and Sholastic Inc./Point |
| Released | 1974 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-02-722980-7 or 0-590-42792-x |
My Brother Sam Is Dead (1974) is a young adult novel by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. It was a Newbery Honor book that was also named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and nominated for a National Book Award in 1975.
My Brother Sam Is Dead tells the story of a boy, Timothy (called Tim), who lives in Redding during the Revolutionary War. His brother, Sam, is a soldier for the Patriots although he is going against his father who is a Loyalist. An argument between Sam and his Father eventually drives Sam away, and they do not hear of him for two years. During that time, the war begins to penetrate Redding, starting with Sam and eventually leading up to Tim's father's capture and death on a prison ship. A negro called Ned gets his head chopped off during a raid from the Brish soldiers.Tim decides he does not want to bae a tory or a patriot. Continental soldiers take camp in Redding under the orders of General Putnam. Sam is part of these troops so he comes home to see his mother and brother. Some other soldiers frame Sam as a cattle thief in order to save themselves, and Sam is to be executed. Tim tries as hard as he can to change the general's mind, but to no avail.
One of the most well written parts in the book is when Tim and his father travel to Verplancks Point to sell some of their livestock, on the way they get stopped by a group of "cow-boys" claiming to be sent by the patriots. They think that since Tim and his father are from Redding, and that Verplancks point is controlled by the British, that Tim and his father are Torys, and that they are selling their cows to Torys. They hassle them a bit, but an escort comes, and the "cow-boys" ride away. When they are done selling their livestock, and are ready to come home, but on a different road that is slower, but out of the way of the cow-boys. But a snow-storm forces them to go the shorter way. While waiting for their escort, the same cowboys show up, and after a while kidnap Tim's father, he is brave but they leave Tim and the cart alone in the snow.
Because of the novel's content, which includes no explicit violence though the narrator does see an execution and a beheading, it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number twelve. [1]
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