Revolutionary War Fiction

We'd been doing some non-fiction reading aimed at the late 1700s in our country. We'd read some political science, a couple of biographies, and studied the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. To go with that, I wanted some good stories. So we read Johnny Tremain and My Brother Sam Is Dead.

Johnny Tremain is such a good story, even if you're not interested in historical fiction. It's a story about hard work, grudges and forgiveness, vocation, starting over, and even a smidge of romance thrown in (enough to keep Mom interested but not enough to put off the boys she's reading too). Johnny Tremain definitely comes from the perspective that the Americans were right to rebel.

Just by chance, we followed up immediately with My Brother Sam Is Dead, which happens to begin in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord, which is precisely where Johnny Tremain ends. The main thing I didn't like about Sam was that I sometimes wondered if the story were written for the express purpose of encouraging pacifism and showing that war (even in self-defense) was never worth the cost. Another thing I didn't much care for was the depressing ending. But the thing I really really appreciated about this book was showing the viewpoint of the Tories. We seldom find books that give any credence to the colonists who honored the fourth commandment and respected their king. Sam doesn't promote either viewpoint, but gives fair treatment to both sides. It surely provided food for thought and instigated discussion. (It's got enough gore and sadness that it probably isn't appropriate for young kids. Most of the time I see it listed as "young adult reading." That's not due to difficult reading level, but for the need for some maturity.)