My Brother Sam Is Dead tells the story of the Tim Meeker and his family during the years of the American Revolutionary War. Published in 1974, the novel won many awards, including a Newbery Honor, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book designation, and National Book Award nomination. James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, the authors, are brothers who together wrote a series of historical novels for young adults. James, a journalist, wrote most of the text while Christopher, a historian and college professor, provided research and analysis. Together, the brothers depict an adolescent boy who must quickly grow to manhood while his family is ripped apart by war. Structured as a coming-of-age-story, the novel explores themes such as The Glorification of War Versus the Reality, The Impact of War on Families, and Loyalty to a Cause.

This guide refers to the 2005 Scholastic Gold edition which reprinted in its entirety the original 1974 Three Winds Press text.

Content Warning: The novel contains scenes of violence and death in war.

Plot Summary

Tim Meeker, the first-person narrator and protagonist, begins the story in April 1775, with the sudden arrival of his 16-year-old brother, Sam Meeker, at the family tavern in Redding, Connecticut. Susannah and Eliphalet Meeker, the boys’ parents, are having dinner in the tavern on a rainy night with a few other members of the community when Sam bursts in, dressed in a soldier’s uniform. He comes with the news that Rebel soldiers known as “Minutemen” have defeated the British army in confrontations in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Sam also informs the family that he has joined a regiment of colonial militia to fight for independence from Britain.

Sam’s announcement causes a heated discussion among those in the tavern. Sam’s father is particularly unhappy with Sam’s decision and believes that they all should remain loyal to the King and Parliament of England. Sam, on the other hand, believes that the colonies should be free and independent.

After dinner, Sam tells Tim that he has come to take Father’s musket, Brown Bess. Tim is horrified. The musket is important to the family for protection and for hunting. Later that night, when Sam asks his father for the gun, the two get into a vicious argument that ends with Sam running away. Tim hears his father crying.

Tim is distraught over his brother’s flight. He learns from Tom Warrups, an Indigenous American who lives nearby, that Sam is hiding out at his hut. When Tim goes to see Sam, he discovers him with Betsy Read, a young woman whose family consider themselves Patriots (colonists fighting against British monarchial rule). Tim also notices that Sam has stolen Father’s gun.

One day, Betsy comes to tell Tim that Sam is back in town. Soon after, Patriot soldiers enter the Meeker tavern and demand Father to give them his gun. Tim is terrified. He runs to Tom’s hut to get Sam and the gun. When they return to the tavern, they find their parents alive, but shaken. Sam once again runs away.

More months pass with the war growing ever closer. Tim is recruited to deliver some letters to a nearby town. Father adamantly forbids Tim to take on the task, but Tim finds a way to do the task without Father’s knowledge. Along the way he meets Betsy, who fights him for the letter and causes Tim to fail at his errand.

In late autumn 1776, Tim accompanies his father on the annual trip to Verplancks Point where they will sell cattle and buy provisions. Along the way, they are accosted by Rebel forces. They are only saved from harm by the arrival of other horsemen intent on protecting the Meekers.

Tim and Father arrive at Verplancks Point and successfully complete their business. Father is worried about their return to Redding, however. There has been heavy snow that will make it difficult for the oxen to pull the wagon. Therefore, he chooses to take a shorter route, which is more likely to be patrolled by the same Rebels who harassed them earlier.

Father’s premonition of danger proves to be true as he and Tim make their way along the snowy road. When Father rides ahead alone to scout out the way, he is abducted by Rebels, and Tim finds himself alone. He is very scared and thinks about running away. However, after considering his options and whether he should try to rescue Father, he decides that the most important thing he can do is get the wagon home so that he and his mother can survive and run their business. Tim finds himself thrust into the role of an adult very suddenly.

In the spring of 1777, with Father still missing and Sam in the Continental Army, Tim and Mother must run the tavern and do all the work. On a terrible day, British soldiers attack the town of Redding, killing residents and setting fire to a neighbor’s house. Many others, including Tim’s young friend Jerry Sanford, are taken prisoner as the British continue their march toward Danbury to capture weapons.

After the British soldiers leave, the Continental Army, Sam included, arrives in Redding. Sam tells Mother and Tim that he has reenlisted. They accuse him of valuing his friends more than his family. Tim learns soon after that his father has died of cholera while in a British prison ship.

By this time, Tim has largely taken over the planning and decision making for the family. He and his mother have acquired eight cows with great difficulty and Tim intends to sell them for a profit to see them through the next year. Sam, however, advises him to butcher the cows as soon as possible and hide the meat because the Patriot troops are roaming the countryside for food. Tim delays, knowing that they need money, and Sam’s prediction comes true. Patriot soldiers come to steal the cows. When Sam attempts to stop them, they accuse him of the theft. He is thrown in the stockade, awaiting court martial.

Both Tim and Mother plead with Sam’s commanding officers to let him go because he has been framed. They do not listen, and Sam is sentenced to execution by firing squad. Tim tries but is unable to help Sam escape. He watches in horror as Sam is executed.

In an epilogue dated 1826, Tim reflects on his brother’s short life. He reports that he and Mother relocated to Pennsylvania after the end of the war. Although he says that his life has been generally happy—he has married and has children and grandchildren by this point—he still is not convinced that the war was necessary. He believes that there must have been some other way to achieve independence.