My Brother Sam is Dead... along with this book's interest level., 30 Nov 2007
My Brother Sam is dead is perhaps one of the most boring books I have ever read. Perhaps it would have been different if it were not an English reading assignment, but I doubt that I would ever actually read this book out of my own free will.

This book is set in a time you cannot relate to, and modern day young adults like myself will find it incredibly dreary. The main character Tim's obvious immaturity and stubborness is frustrating, and ultimatey results in poor character development on the author's part.

Over 120 children at my school are reading this book, and I have not talked to one that actually enjoys it, in fact, many groan when the time comes to read it.

My one warning is: if you are a teacher looking for a good book for your class to read, do NOT choose My Brother Sam is Dead, trust me, your students will thank you.

If you love dull, dreary, and deathly boring, you will love My Brother Sam is Dead.



Excellent book, 27 Apr 2001
I read this book to my 8 and 9 year old daughters and we all loved it. Great mix of fact and fiction.

EXCELLANT!!!!!!!, 26 Feb 1999
A college man runs off to join the army. Suddenly Sam's younger brother realizes he must turn against his brother or father. Sam is determined to stay in army and win the war. Sam coming from a small Tory town decides to join the rebels. He must leave his brother, father, mother, and girlfriend. He always tries to contact his brother and girlfriend and mother after his father dies on a prison ship. It tells of the struggles trying to run a tavern with a mother and 13 year-old boy. Just one thing the boy wants to rescue his brother from being killed by his own people.

This is the best book I have ever read!, 16 Feb 1999
I liked it because it was very exciting and I learned a lot about The Revolutionary War.I also learned how people lived in those days. I listened to the tape of the book. I thought John C. Brown did very well in reading the book. I think we should not fight in wars. We should just try to talk things out. I could relate to Timothy a lot because I am a Timothy too.

Great for International Students, 12 Nov 1998
I am using this book with my international students in an attempt to get them to read and learn about the Revolutionary War. These intermediate-level high school students are riveted and I have been quite pleased that they are in fact learning American history and loving the book.

Eddie can always smell onions in the air--the sharp bitter odour of hopelessness and anger that haunts the poor side of Fresno. "I had a theory about those vapours, which were not released by the sun's heat but by a huge onion buried under the city. This onion made us cry. Tears leapt from our eyelashes and stained our faces." Eddie tries to escape from the poverty and gang society that surrounds him by taking vocational classes and staying away from his old "cholos", (gang friends). But when his cousin is killed, his aunt urges him to seek out and punish the murderer. To avoid the pressure building in his neighbourhood, Eddie takes a landscaping job in an affluent suburb. But this too goes awry when his boss's truck is stolen while in his care. In the end, with his money gone and a dangerous gang member stalking him, Eddie's only choice is to join the military and hope that they can give him a better future than the one Fresno seems to offer.

There is no tidy closure--certainly no happy ending--to this bleak novel. But that is exactly what gives Buried Onions its strong, acidic flavour. Teens with a low tolerance for any type of pretence will appreciate Gary Soto's honesty in not trying to force a fairy tale ending. In spare but always striking prose, Soto has written an unrelentingly grim story that teens will savour because it rings true. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert, Amazon.com

My Brother Sam is Dead... along with this book's interest level., 30 Nov 2007
My Brother Sam is dead is perhaps one of the most boring books I have ever read. Perhaps it would have been different if it were not an English reading assignment, but I doubt that I would ever actually read this book out of my own free will.

This book is set in a time you cannot relate to, and modern day young adults like myself will find it incredibly dreary. The main character Tim's obvious immaturity and stubborness is frustrating, and ultimatey results in poor character development on the author's part.

Over 120 children at my school are reading this book, and I have not talked to one that actually enjoys it, in fact, many groan when the time comes to read it.

My one warning is: if you are a teacher looking for a good book for your class to read, do NOT choose My Brother Sam is Dead, trust me, your students will thank you.

If you love dull, dreary, and deathly boring, you will love My Brother Sam is Dead.



Excellent book, 27 Apr 2001
I read this book to my 8 and 9 year old daughters and we all loved it. Great mix of fact and fiction.

EXCELLANT!!!!!!!, 26 Feb 1999
A college man runs off to join the army. Suddenly Sam's younger brother realizes he must turn against his brother or father. Sam is determined to stay in army and win the war. Sam coming from a small Tory town decides to join the rebels. He must leave his brother, father, mother, and girlfriend. He always tries to contact his brother and girlfriend and mother after his father dies on a prison ship. It tells of the struggles trying to run a tavern with a mother and 13 year-old boy. Just one thing the boy wants to rescue his brother from being killed by his own people.

This is the best book I have ever read!, 16 Feb 1999
I liked it because it was very exciting and I learned a lot about The Revolutionary War.I also learned how people lived in those days. I listened to the tape of the book. I thought John C. Brown did very well in reading the book. I think we should not fight in wars. We should just try to talk things out. I could relate to Timothy a lot because I am a Timothy too.

Great for International Students, 12 Nov 1998
I am using this book with my international students in an attempt to get them to read and learn about the Revolutionary War. These intermediate-level high school students are riveted and I have been quite pleased that they are in fact learning American history and loving the book.

I really appreciate Soto's gift and challenge!, 27 Nov 1997
Soto delineates nineteen-year-old Chicano boy who has no luck in his life despite his continuous efforts to improve it. In contrast to the serious plot, Soto's narrative tone is modest, restrained, and, at times, humorous, similar to less serious books he has written before, and his insight is vivid and precise. His challenge in this work has been triumphant!

My Brother Sam is Dead... along with this book's interest level., 30 Nov 2007
My Brother Sam is dead is perhaps one of the most boring books I have ever read. Perhaps it would have been different if it were not an English reading assignment, but I doubt that I would ever actually read this book out of my own free will.

This book is set in a time you cannot relate to, and modern day young adults like myself will find it incredibly dreary. The main character Tim's obvious immaturity and stubborness is frustrating, and ultimatey results in poor character development on the author's part.

Over 120 children at my school are reading this book, and I have not talked to one that actually enjoys it, in fact, many groan when the time comes to read it.

My one warning is: if you are a teacher looking for a good book for your class to read, do NOT choose My Brother Sam is Dead, trust me, your students will thank you.

If you love dull, dreary, and deathly boring, you will love My Brother Sam is Dead.



Excellent book, 27 Apr 2001
I read this book to my 8 and 9 year old daughters and we all loved it. Great mix of fact and fiction.

EXCELLANT!!!!!!!, 26 Feb 1999
A college man runs off to join the army. Suddenly Sam's younger brother realizes he must turn against his brother or father. Sam is determined to stay in army and win the war. Sam coming from a small Tory town decides to join the rebels. He must leave his brother, father, mother, and girlfriend. He always tries to contact his brother and girlfriend and mother after his father dies on a prison ship. It tells of the struggles trying to run a tavern with a mother and 13 year-old boy. Just one thing the boy wants to rescue his brother from being killed by his own people.

This is the best book I have ever read!, 16 Feb 1999
I liked it because it was very exciting and I learned a lot about The Revolutionary War.I also learned how people lived in those days. I listened to the tape of the book. I thought John C. Brown did very well in reading the book. I think we should not fight in wars. We should just try to talk things out. I could relate to Timothy a lot because I am a Timothy too.

Great for International Students, 12 Nov 1998
I am using this book with my international students in an attempt to get them to read and learn about the Revolutionary War. These intermediate-level high school students are riveted and I have been quite pleased that they are in fact learning American history and loving the book.

I really appreciate Soto's gift and challenge!, 27 Nov 1997
Soto delineates nineteen-year-old Chicano boy who has no luck in his life despite his continuous efforts to improve it. In contrast to the serious plot, Soto's narrative tone is modest, restrained, and, at times, humorous, similar to less serious books he has written before, and his insight is vivid and precise. His challenge in this work has been triumphant!

Awful, 21 Mar 2004
This book was awful don't buy it or read it you would be wasting your money and time. It's boring nothing ever happens. I continued on reading it thinking that something would happen but nothing did.

excellent and heart rendering, 20 Dec 2003
it took me some time to grasp the story line but after the first few pages i felt i was there the watcher watching the same as wot she did, and at the end because i felt i was lliving it it had me in complete tears and deperation - extremly well written

Ohmigosh!, 17 Aug 1999
I read the last few chapters of this novel with opera swelling in the background, and by the time I was done, I was sobbing. It centers upon three characters which come together at the end of this very lyrical novel. Many of the thoughts these characters feel, I have experienced myself. Beautiful.

Sad but realistic, 14 May 1999
This short story talls about a girl who is emotionally damiged. Her summer on the beach is time of filled with the want for love and a family.Though you know little about her the regulures who watch her weekly as she sits on the top step that leads down to the beach and stares at thems feeling and judgments of her. One of the best stores of its kind for SURE. A must read.

This is a wierd but exelent book., 08 May 1999
This book is execent tale of two families having hard times. I enjoyed this book and thought it was great. Its has down to earth charactor and real life events.