In today’s countdown to Independence Day, we will take a look at another classic, My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier. It is a Newbery Honor book and was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and nominated for a National Book Award in 1975. This powerful and thought-provoking tale recounts the experiences of Tim Meeker during the American Revolution. While Tim’s father is a loyalist, his brother is a patriot. This ideological conflict results in the breakup of Tim’s family with disastrous consequences. This novel does an excellent job of presenting each side of the Revolution and demonstrating how it was really the original civil war. This story also proves the old adage that freedom is never free.