Student Summaries Page Nine

1. In the book "My Brother Sam is Dead," I think that the author was trying to reveal that war is never fair, for anyone. In this book, two very important people in the Meeker family got killed; Mr. Meeker (Life) and Sam. It showed how people in war can even be killed by their own side if they aren't careful. This could happen to anyone in war, not just the Meeker family, although this was just their story. All in all, people are going to die in war. It isn't always the answer. There will always be someone getting hurt, whether they are on the battle field or they just lost a son who was. I think that the author believes that war is never right. Also, I think that the author is trying to get across that life itself is not always fair. You could've done almost nothing wrong, but face some really hard things. Like in the book when Tim's father is captured and then killed by a disease. Tim never did anything to the cow-boys, but they still stole his father, and he ended up dying.
2. Personally, I really enjoyed the book. I really loved learning about the American Revolution, so I was really fond of this book. It was really informational and VERY suspenseful. I never wanted to put the book down. Not only did this book have a lot of facts, but it also had a great story behind it. I felt a lot of different emotions throughout this book. It helped in the book that Tim was about our age going through a rough time. I couldn't imagine doing what he is doing at my age, and having to be so brave. If I were Tim, I know that I would definitely not be able to stand so strong while my father is dead and my brother is going to be executed. This made a great connection to the book. I would definitely like to read another book similar to this one or by the same author.
3. From our 'sister' school, I really liked reading Nicole's comments. While reading them, I realized that I really agreed with her a lot, and she also brought up some very interesting points. One that caught my eye was when she posted for chapter 8, and incorporated a quote that wasn't even from the book. I could see how the quote worked with the story and I thought that it was very interesting that she put that. I also agreed with what she had posted for chapter 12, about the dead paying the debts for those who live. In that same response, I had the same emotional reaction to the chapter as her, it also opened new doors for how I think about the war.

Nicholas

1. I have a feeling that the author's message in this book is that in war, many things can possibly happen. Some of these things can be fair, yet they can also be unfair. Unfortunately, most of the time it is unfair. Such as at the very end when they were planning to execute Sam. Sam didn't do anything wrong and he has been fighting on his own side for 3 years, yet just because they thought he was stealing cattle, he was then planned to be executed. What was even more odd was that he was accused of stealing his own cattle. I have a huge feeling that the only main reason why they executed Sam is because they wanted to set an example of what would happen if you were causing trouble. Mainly war is unfair, yet it can also make big changes in history, such as the Revolutionary War. Even though most of things in the Revolutionary War were unfair, without it, we probably would never be as independent as we are today.
2. What I really liked about this book is that it showed on how much of a struggle it was during the Revolutionary War. There were many problems, such as higher prices, battles, and shortages of food.

1. I believe that the authors message was about how war changes people into animals. The book shows all the difficulties of war and how dramatically it can impact a family like the Meekers. They lost Sam and Tim's father (life) to the war and it made life very hard for them. It also shows why war is very sad and bad thing. Problems can always be solved without war because there is always a non violent way to solve problems. People, even now, die in wars because they believe that it is right to die for what they believe in.
2. What I liked about the book was that showed the real difficulties war and how cruel people can come. I liked that the book was very suspenseful. It made me feel as if I was really there. The facts about the Revolution were very accurate which made the book easier to read. I think it was a great book and that others should read it if there into American history.
3. I agreed with Stephen from the BHS because he had the same ideas as me and our opinions were very similarly written.

1. I believe that the author's message in this story is that war can dramatically change people and their actions. The death of Sam and Father were both results of war and the people changed in them. Things can be resolved through non violent things like talking peacefully or making treaties. Even today people are changed by war and die in wars for what they believe in.
2. I thought that this was an excellent novel. It gave great detail into the life of a family that has been changed by war. It also had a lot of suspension which I personally like.
3. I related to Stephen from BHS because he had similar thoughts and ideas as me.

3. I related to James the most probably because I agree with him especially with the part where he says he went back and forth as a patriot and a tory.

Daniel

1. I think that the author's message is that war is a horrible thing. War is never fair no matter what your
actions are, or what side you are on everyone loses, they lose many needs, families, and most important
they lose peace in the world. I also think that another message was to learn what life was back then,
and how war was.
2. I liked a lot of things about this novel. One of the main things is just that I like the story line
I also thing, in my opinion, the novel was describtive. My favorite part in the book were the chapters
when Sam and Mr.Meeker traveled to verplanks point. It was very suspensful and exciting. You could
never know when something would attack them or if something would go wrong.

Daniel

3. I related to James because I thought we had simaliar ideas about "My Brother Sam is Dead".

1. I think the message is that war is never fair. An example of this is that Mr. Meeker and Sam both die. So, Tim and Mrs.Meeker are left with alone. So, war is not fair because no matter what side you fight on, there are always losses. I believe we have to fight for what we believe in but we should do it in a nonviolent way.

2. I liked many things about this book. I liked that it showed what war is really like. It enforced the harshness of war. It showed that you could lose more than the battle, you could lose a family member or friend. I think this was a good book to read. I found it it enjoyable and looked forward to see what was going to happen next. I think it is a very good book and I learned alot.

3. I agree mainly with James. I related to him becuase he had alot of the same views that I had throughout the story.