Kelsey

Hey, my name is Kelsey. I am twelve years old and love to dance, which i have been doing most of my life. My emotional response to this chapter is that I am anxious to see what happens to Sam and his father because they fight a lot. Tim is "tugging at my heartstrings" because it seems like he is always in the middle of every argument. I would agree with Sam because a king that is so far away shouldn't be ruling the people unfairly.

In chapter two of My Brother Sam is Dead, Mr. Meeker says you never get rid of injustices by fighting, but Sam thinks differently. Sam thinks that if you don't fight, they won't be free. Obviously, Mr. Meeker is talking just about fighting or war in general. This chapter was okay and seemed to focus more on the relationships between Tim, Sam, and their Father. I am definetly excited to see what comes next in the book.
~Kelsey~

Well personally, I don't know if I would tell Mr. Meeker that Sam was coming to Redding or not tell him because either could result badly. If I did tell Mr. Meeker, he would get mad at Sam and both would start arguing again. On the other hand, if I didn't tell him then I would feel very guilty and eventually I would wind up telling him. I think that Betsy seems like a mysterious and sneaky character. At the same time, she sounds like a cool person anyway. I think that I would fare nicely during the American revolution. Since the chapter was pretty short, there wasn't that much going on and for me it was okay. I am still very excited to see what happens in the chapters to come.
-Kelsey

1.)In chapter four, Tim sees the "Continentals" at his house "interacting" with his Father and Mother. When I was reading this part I was anxious to see what was going to happen. Anything was possible at that point and it definetly kept me interested. I think I most likely would have done what Tim did, going to get the gun, because he could have shown the Continentals the gun and maybe they would have believed them. When Sam overtook Tim, I kinda felt bad for Tim because Sam has a HUGE advantage, but was probably safer for Sam to have the gun.
2.)IF Sam HAD stayed, Father MIGHT have said, "Lets stop the fighting and act more like Father and Son." or "Even if we have different opinions I'll still love you." Something like that or close to it is what I can imagine him saying.
3.)I think Tim calls Sam a coward because it said that Tim was angry at him and he truely didn't think that. I'm not sure if Sam was a coward, but at times I guess he could be. For example, when he was nervous about seeing the Continentals. For me, he acted like a coward there.

1) a: In chapter five, Tim says, "The war has always seemed like a story---something that happened in some faraway place or faraway time, and didn't have anything to do with me." I think that because he didn't know a lot of people that were in this war made his feelings change.
b: I think that this is true because war can be an emotional time for all people. Their family members or friends could be involved and their family may be worried about them.
2) I think that Mr. Heron is an okay person. He seems mysterious and somewhat sneaky. I'm not exactly sure if he is a Patriot or Tory yet, even if he says he is a Tory. I think that once I read on in the book I will find out.

In this chapter, I think Tim's actions were okay and maybe not the best choice. He is lying to his father and that can result in conflict between them. IF what Betsy said about the letter was true, I don't trust Mr.Heron. I'm not exactly sure if he is that trustworthy yet, but I will continue on reading and hopefully find out. When I read about the scuffle between Betsy and Tim, I was surprised. I thought that they were just going to walk their seperate ways and forget about it, but obviously I was wrong. Betsy was definetly very curious to read the letter and because of this, she got what she wanted. I was also surprised at what the letter said. I can't wait to read more about what happens to everyone in the coming up chapters.

I think the war is affecting Tim's family by having them argue over their opinions, such as Sam's and Mr.Meeker's. Also, the family may be scared or worried for Sam when he fights. The Middle-East is affecting my family by causing worry and anxiety and possible higher taxes from the strain on the economy. My emotional reaction to chapter 7 was that I was worried for Tim and his Father when they were taking their trip. I thought that something was going to happen to Mr. Meeker. This caused me to wonder what was going to happen and kept my interest most of the time.

I think that Tim is still a little bit confused about the war. He is not sure if he is a loyalist or patriot and said that maybe the patriots will win, but his cousin, Ezekiel, disagreed. As I said before, Tim still seems confused about what side he is on because his Father and brother both have different opinions. My emotional response was that the chapter wasn't that interesting, but I was still sort of curious to see what was going to happen to Tim and Mr. Meeker.

When I read the chapter, I thought that Mr. Meeker was kidnapped or killed by the cow-boys. I think that Tim will be very upset and lonely because his father is gone. I hope that in the next chapters, they will tell us where he is. M y emotional reaction was that I was scared and nervous for Tim's father. I also felt bad for the family when I thought about the affect it may have on them if Mr. Meeker is gone.

In chapter 10, Tim says, "I still hadn't figured out what he was fighting for. It seemed to me that we'd been free all along." When Tim said this statement, he was talking about Sam and the war. From what he said here, I think that he is still confused about the war and which side he is on. Later in this chapter, he does say, "I didn't feel much like being a Tory anymore." So maybe he will think about being on the Patriot's side.

I think that when Tim says "something big" he means actually being part of something well-known to everybody. This would pertain to the war that was going on at that time. My emotional reaction was that i was happy to find out that Sam was alive. I was also surprised that it had been two years since Sam saw his family. I am still curious to see if Mr. Meeker is still living, but I have a feeling that we will find out soon enough!

I think the statement, “In war the dead pay the debts for the living” means that the dead people are the ones that have suffered for the penalty that the living are making. Basically, they are paying the consequence. My emotional reaction to chapter 11 was that I was sad to find out Mr. Meeker died. I also feel bad for the Meeker family and Sam because he is suffering in the army at the time.

I think the statement, "Give me liberty or give me death," might have inspired patriots because it could have given them some courage to stand up and fight for what they believe in. My emotional reaction was that I was sad to find out that Sam was to be executed, but I knew that it would have to happen sometime according to the title of the book.

LIMERICK: Patrick Henry was a good man, Of the Patriots he was a fan, So strongly he believed in this side, That he had showed much of his pride, and used "Give me liberty or Give me death" as a plan.

I think the irony of Sam’s pending execution was that not only does the title tell you what is going to happen, but he gets shot by his own side. The people that he fought with against the British killed him! It is similar to the irony of what happened to Mr. Meeker because the side he believed in, the British, killed him. My emotional reactions were that I was upset to find out that Sam was killed that way and that Tim and his mother would be left to take care of everything by themselves! Otherwise, I thought that the chapter was sad and made me feel upset when I read the very end of it.

1.)My reaction is that the quote means maybe our country, at that time, could have settled all the disputes by just talking. Even peace petitions or agreements could've solved it. If our country had done that hundreds of years ago, many lives may have been saved, such as Sam's in the book. What I am basically saying is that yes I think they could have become a nation without the war, but that is just my opinion.
2.)Overall, I thought the book was pretty good!! Even though some of the parts could be boring at times, they gave very interesting facts. I especially liked that Tim told the story from his point of view. Some of the chapters kept my interest and I was really excited to finish the book!! All of us obviously would have to learn about the Revolutionary War sometime and I think that this book was a cool way to learn more about it. Hopefully we can meet you guys from Bay Head really soon!