My Brother Sam Is Dead (Scholastic Gold)

I read this book in class with my peers and after we finished i just had to get my own copy! I love how the book has some fictional and real information, However it does have a tragic ending so if you prefer a happy ending this might not be the book for you! The love between family members and siblings is incredible i would recommend to others! 👍😊

Love the book. the book shows the opposing views on war in a way that is engrossing for children and allows them to be able to understand why there are such differing opinions on the subject.

Very good book. My son had to read it for his 5th grade class; and since I like to be close to what is being taught I read the book as well. Book is tough (emotionally so for a 5th grader), but accurately depicts the challenges in all conflicts - the main theme of the book.Some may argue that the book is anti-war, or even unpatriotic - but that would be underplaying the "grayness" in the world when it comes to armed conflict. It's a smart book, and raises a number of topics and talking points for discussion.Another theme (although lesser) is that the Revolutionary War itself is one where the conflict is grey and complicated and the book ingeniously depicts as such from the viewpoint of a family in the war. I've not read another book on the Revolutionary War that so immerses the reader - one gets pulled into the story pretty quickly.Nice recap at the end of the book regarding the historical research - what is fact in the book and what is story; includes places that still exist and can be visited.

My son is 11 years old and not a huge reader. This book he is so excited to tell me what he read each time. He said I should've bought two so we could both read it and talk about it.

My Brother Sam is Dead was required school reading for my eleven year old son and after also reading it myself, I would say the target age is probably in the 10-13 range. The story is told from the viewpoint of Tim, an early teen boy living in Massachusetts during the Revolutionary period. The plot deals with Tim's conflict of whether to support the views of his America-siding late teen brother Sam or his British-sympathizing father. The book is a fairly quick read that is historically accurate and cleverly manages to work in some real Revolutionary figures into the otherwise fictional story. Both my son and I enjoyed it and discussed the book after reading.