Customer Reviews: Read 327 more reviews...
 My Brother Sam Is dead book review November 26, 2008
Hi,
This book talks about a boy named Tim Meeker who always likes his brother until now. It is approaching the Revolutionary War and Tim's father is a Loyalist, but Tim's brother, Sam, is a Patriot. His brother goes to fight for the Americans but Tim wants to join also. Tim is torn between beliefs. But surprising events led up to the death of Sam Meeker.
I really liked this book. At some times it was a little boring but it had a lot of action in the little town of Redding. Many exciting events and a very good narrative of the Revolutionary War. I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did. ***** Five Stars!
 Very good, deep book November 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For one, I would like to start out that I am thirteen and my name is not "Bernease" as it may show up, but my grandmothers. Now that that's out of the way...
I'm really astounded by the amount of ignorant people who are reviewing this book. This book is supposed to be an inside look of what life was like during the Revolutionary War. It does a perfect job of that. I think that James and Christopher did a great job of showing just how bad life was in the era: the scarceness of food and clothes, and of course, the violence. Yes, the book does have some pretty gory scenes, but I wouldn't really call it "action". Most of it tends to be of Tim or a solider describing what he had seen during the war, and without this info we can't really tell how bad the war really was.
Granted, this book was published around the 1970's and the Vietnam War was still raging, so perhaps children at the time were more resistant to the violence portrayed in the book, mabye from the influence of the war.
Also, what is with the people complaining with the plot? The plot is just fine the way it is. Really, the plot isn't meant to portray a story of adventure, it helps the reader understand what life was like during the war. Since most of the readers are about the same age as Tim Meeker, they can probably understand how he is feeling.
Still, the plot does occasionally have some tense parts where you wait, wondering "what's going to happen next" though truthfully after awhile it tends to get to predictable;you know he is going to die. At least some characters defy this logic used a lot throughout the book.
Well, while the book can come to a quick ending(about a day or 2) and the title is quite an annoying spoiler, this book is well worth the five dollars, and will be quite an interesting read.
wonderful July 14, 2008
My son needed this for a school report. It is a very good book for middle school revolutionary war study. It came a day sooner than expected, I got 2 day shipping and it came in 1 business day. Extremely satisfied with condition, speed and product.
An anti-war novel about, of all wars, the American Revolution May 16, 2008
Maybe I don't read enough Revolutionary War fiction to have the best idea of its focus, but it seems to me that a good deal of it celebrates and romanticizes the war. And why not? It was freedom from oppression. It was the birth of nation. We know about Valley Forge and all of that suffering, but I think that too many people forget that the Revolutionary War was just that: a war. This story focuses on Tim, a young boy forced to grow up on the homefront. His elder brother Sam is an idealistic freedom fighter and his father is a loyal Tory--or maybe just someone who is anti-war. Tim is caught between them as the war rages on with all its ugliness.In the end, it's hard to tell whether this book is for or against the revolutionists who formed America. But that's not the point. The point is that it is the innocent who always suffer, no matter what the war's objective.
Easy read, well written, intriguing April 22, 2008
This is a great read for teens. I recommend for those who have not yet fallen in love with reading. Would have given 5 stars, but author fails to deal with some essential issues of that time.
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