Like the other historical novels by the Collier brothers, [The Winter Hero] is fiction skilfully based on fact, and an appended note makes clear which is which…. As is true of the earlier books, the story has a dramatic plot and good style, historical information nicely integrated into the plot and the dialogue, and that final element that marks the best in historical fiction: it gives the reader an understanding of the personal conflicts, the practical needs, the ideological principles, and the background that contributed to an event. The political oppression and financial burdens suffered by Massachusetts citizens in 1787, seen through Justin's eyes, are as vivid as his descriptions of confrontations between farmers and government troops.

Zena Sutherland, in a review of "The Winter Hero," in Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Vol. 32, No. 6, February, 1979, p. 97.