In My Brother Sam Is Dead, the first book created by Jim and Kit Collier, the complexity of issues about the Revolutionary War and war in general is explored in ways perhaps unique in children's literature. The story, set in Connecticut, shows a family torn between divided partisanship toward the war: the Loyalist dimension (Mr. Meeker's concern with maintaining his business and protecting his family) versus the Patriot dimension (young Sam Meeker's decision to join the rebel forces). Sam's younger brother, Tim, remains at home and is left with the ultimately unresolved conflict of torn personal loyalties. In the end both his father and brother are killed, providing the reader with biting ironies. His father is killed by the British when he attempts to deliver his cattle to the British troops; Sam is executed by his Patriot regiment after falsely being accused of stealing cattle that belonged to...