My Brother Sam Is Dead

My Brother Sam Is Dead is a young adult historical novel by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, published in 1974. It is set in Redding, Connecticut during the American Revolution and is told by Timothy Meeker, the younger son of a family that runs the town's tavern and store.

Sam leaves to join the rebel forces, and the family discovers that a small town cannot stay neutral: the tavern is used by both sides, the trade the family depends on is disrupted, and the argument between Sam and his father becomes an argument about what the family is prepared to lose. Tim is old enough to carry messages and to be asked what he thinks, so much of the novel is him working that out.

The Colliers wrote the book for teenagers and refused to give the war a comfortable ending, which is why it has been widely taught since. Its subject is the cost of a political argument to the people who live through it rather than to the men who make the speeches.