I like this book for a few reasons. The first is that even though this book is rather short, it still gives some slight character development to the protagonist. This book is set in the time right before the revolutionary war. The boy Sam matures from being a scared boy who doesn't want to go to war to a daring young adult fighting against redcoats. He hasn't fully matured yet though because, in the end, he behaves like a child again and just wishes to sleep off everything. The second reason I like the book is that it is very informational but tells it in a narrative. It talks about the tension between the British and colonists but through the boy’s lenses. He doesn’t like war but is willing to fight the British when he sees that one of his friends gets hurt. It uses onomatopoeia to take the reader to the scene and shows how confusing it was for Sam and his family.
The main idea is that change can be brought on by small events. It takes one act of courage and strength to impact history.
This book is a historical fiction since it happens in the pre-Revolutionary era and the character is not a real person. ( )

Summary: Sam the Minuteman is the story of a boy living at the start of the Revolutionary War. The minutemen in town are called to arms, so he grabs a rifle and goes with his father to attempt to stop the British. His best friend is injured, and he is upset. When the British return, he fights because he is angry about his friend being hurt.

Personal Reaction: I liked the book, but for a level 3 “I can Read” book, I think it might have been a bit mature. My first grader read it, and didn’t have any problems with the vocabulary, but he was a bit taken aback that a “boy” would be grabbing a gun to go and fight against an army! Sam did appear to be older, but he was described as a boy. My son might be a little more sensitive to that idea though, because my husband is in the Army, and he couldn’t imagine “going to work” with Daddy! It is an old (1969) book. The illustrations are not that eye catching. I honestly wouldn’t recommend it for an early elementary student, and students much older than that probably do not want to read “I Can Read” books.

Extension Ideas: The book does tell an important story about the start of the Revolutionary War, and could be used when teaching that era. It would complement a lesson about Paul Revere, and students could come up with a modern day version of Paul Revere’s ride. (For example, he text everyone, drove around in a mustang blowing his horn, etcetera.) They could also write about what they thought it would be like to have British Troops walking through their town. ( )

American Revolution, Thematic Unit, Literature Circle Book - Given it is an Early/Easy or even remedial reader, the simple look issues versus a more in depth examination is probably very appropriate. The languae and sentences are great for this type of book, short and simple with lots of good vocabulary. The illustrations are very helpful in creating context for both comprehension and the decoding of (possibly) unknown words.