Student Summaries Page Two

1. In the story “My Brother Sam is Dead” by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier I believe there is a story behind the actual story. What I think that the authors are trying to reveal to the readers is that there is nothing fair about war. How can there be anything fair about something we either way; no matter what side your on, there are people dying! Sometimes war may even get the better of people for example General Putnam killed Sam just to make a point even though I believe that in his heart he knew Sam never really did anything. Also, Innocent people die every minute in war. I think they are trying to say that violence is not the answer and there are other ways to achieve the same end. I also believe that they are also trying to show us what people go through during war, even people who aren’t fighting like Mrs. Meeker lost her husband ad her son. This book really opened my eyes and made me look at how I treat people. Overall this book made me a better person and I believe that the authors we trying to have there readers look into there hearts and see who they really are.

2. There are many things that I enjoyed about this book but what I personally enjoyed the most was to see how much the war changed everyone. Everyone went through so much and some people changed for the good and others for the bad. One example of how someone changed in a good way was Tim. Throughout the book Tim changed in so many ways. He grew up and he did it fast. He became so much more mature and it was easy to see that by the end of the book he was not a kid any more. Once Sam left for the war and father died he had to become the man of the house which was a huge role. One exmple of how things changed in a negative is Mrs. Meeker. Throughout the story she has given up in some ways. After losing her husband and Sam you can easily tell she has given up some of her hope. She is not that strong woman she was in the begging of the book. It’s really sad to see the effects war had on some people.

3. The person from our 'sister' school who I related to the most or whose comments I liked reading the most was Nicole F. I enjoyed reading her comments because they had a lot of detailed and you could easily tell she really showed her emotions. For example for her response on number one on chapter six she is not afraid to speak her mind on what she thinks of Betsey Reed. It seems to me as if Nicole sticks to what she believes in and I think that is a good quality to have. Also another one of her answers that caught my eye was number on chapter six. Nicole pointed out thing that I would have never thought of, like the fact that Tim is Christian. Overall I liked her responses because I was never bored reading them and I always wanted to hear what she had to say.

gabriellaFeb 26, 2009 8:32 PM

Hey guys!
1 In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, the authors conveyed a very important message to their readers. They not only gave us facts about the Revolutionary War, but also gave us an insight of the negative effects that war can bring, no matter how far away you are. They also proved that the side you support doesn't matter. Both Sam and Mr. Meeker not only died unjustly, but they were killed by their own side.
2 Personally, I thought the book was mediocre. The authors, though, did manage to get me close to the characters. I thought that there was little suspense in the book due to the title, I knew, that somehow, Sam would die. Even though I knew about his death, I was still hurt because I felt close to Sam. I also enjoyed reading because the authors managed to incorporate facts about the Revolution, without making the book completely humdrum.
3 After reading the comments from Bay Head School, I agreed most with Nicole. We often had the same feelings, and reactions the the chapters. I especially liked her response to chapter five when she said "Tim saw that this wasn't a war in a far away place it was right here right now and he couldn't do a thing to stop it."
I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with Bay Head, and i hope they did as well.

oliviawFeb 26, 2009 8:35 PM

Hey guys,
1) What I think author's message is that he is trying to get people to see the effects of war itself. The authors are giving you an insight on the agony, and the (little bit of) happiness that comes with having someone you know and love in the war or even living in the place where the war is going on.
2) I liked this book for many reasons. First of all, it was from a kid's point of view. You never really would think there would be a book about a war from a kid's point of view. It described what it felt like to be someone "small" in the war, yet know whats going on being a taverner's son. The second reason was that there was ALOT of foreshadowing and chapters that ended at parts when you really wanted to know what happened next, sort of like commericals. It was suprisingly a good book on the revolution because of all of the qualities that I mentioned before.
3) The people I agreed with the most are Connor and Anna. I couldn't choose one! It was hard because Connor had alot of my answers and Anna got into good detail and I agreed with her answers as well as Connor's.