My Brother Sam Is Dead is a 1974 young-adult historical fiction novel by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. The book takes place in Redding, Connecticut during the American Revolution, and is told from the perspective of a young boy, Tim Meeker. The novel details Tim's brother, Samuel, and his desire to fight for the Patriots, despite his father's opposition to the war. Ultimately, Tim is forced to decide between siding with his brother and joining the colonies’ war efforts, or abiding by his father's anti-war wishes.
The novel received various book awards and nominations from the National Book Foundation and American Library Association, but was later ranked in ALA's "Most Frequently Challenged Books" and "Banned/Challenged Books" from 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2009. During this time period, the novel was subject to much controversy surrounding its use in elementary school classrooms, given several counts of violence and profanity throughout the book.
Plot
Narrated by 12-year-old boy Tim (Timmy) Meeker, the story begins at the start of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in the Loyalist town of Redding, Connecticut. Timmy's father is a local tavern owner who immediately expresses his discontent with the war. As a pacifist, Mr. Meeker feels withdrawn from the political affairs taking place among Tories and Patriots, and he urges his sons to not get involved, as he believes war only results in death. Despite this, Timmy's 16-year-old brother, Sam, shares with Timmy that he will be enlisting in the war to fight for the Patriots under General Benedict Arnold. Timmy understands much of his brother's contention with the British Tory party, feeling as though England arbitrarily regulates the colonies from overseas.
Upon hearing that Sam has enlisted to fight against the British and catching him trying to steal the family rifle, Brown Bess, Mr. Meeker throws Sam out of the house, leaving Timmy conflicted with the decision to remain uninvolved or follow in his brother's footsteps. As the war continues to erupt throughout the colonies Tim joins his father in traveling to Verplanck's Point, a common place for the Meekers to sell cattle and goods. Despite multiple warnings to avoid selling goods to Tories, Tim and his father are caught doing so. Ultimately, Mr. Meeker is captured by Patriots and mistakenly taken as a British prisoner of war, where he later dies of cholera.
The Rebels begin traveling throughout New England to loot towns for food, goods, and weaponry, and upon arriving in Redding, Tim follows the Rebels to revisit his brother after almost two years without seeing one another. Shortly after, the brothers’ family cattle fall victim to theft, and although Tim was able to retrieve all the cows but one, Sam is accused of stealing by another Rebel and is executed. Tim quickly grows infuriated with the Patriots for their responsibility for his brother's and father's deaths, despite his initial alignment with the Patriots against British colonialism. The novel concludes with both Tim and his mother, Susanna, relocating to Pennsylvania at the war's end, and later, Tim getting married and opening a tavern of his own to honor his father.
Reception
My Brother Sam is Dead is a Newbery Honor book that was also named an ALA Notable Children's Book and nominated for a National Book Award in 1975. The ALA reports that My Brother Sam is Dead was the twelfth most frequently challenged book in the period from 1990 to 2000, and the 27th most challenged book from 2000 to 2009.