Sam the Minuteman

Written by Nathaniel Benchley
Illustrated by Arnold Lobel

Grade:

1-3

ISBN-13:

978-0064441070

Publisher:

HarperCollins (1987)

Sam Brown, a young boy living on a farm in Lexington, Massachusetts, works hard to help his family and at the start of the Revolutionary War, he is called upon to help fight for freedom. On the night of Paul Revere’s ride, Sam is awoken by the commotion and, although afraid, he joins his father and the other Minutemen in trying to stop the movement of British soldiers. In the first exchange Sam witnesses violence and death caused by the British, which emboldens him to rejoin the Minutemen efforts in fighting the British on their return. Although Sam is unaware at the time, this exchange turns out to be the beginning of the American Revolution. This early chapter book is written from the viewpoint of young Sam and poignantly captures what it would have been like for a young boy who participated in the Battle of Lexington.