The Year of the Hangman
Summary
It was the year of 1777, also known as the year of the hangman. Partially because the three 7s kind of symbolized three gallows, but also because there were more hangings than usual that occurred in that year. Creighton Brown had even witnessed one when he was thirteen years old, skipping his classes in doing so. One day, Creighton came home hugely in debt. Luckily or unluckily, he was kidnapped on the front porch of his home. He, then, found himself aboard an English ship, the Amity, sailing to America to live with his uncle, Colonel Gower, at the command of his own mother. He slept in a cabin with Lieutenant Hale as a cabin mate. When they finally got to South Carolina, Creighton got to see his uncle only to find out that his uncle was going to be re-stationed to Florida as lieutenant governor. However, on the way there, the Amity was tricked to get close to the Revenge, and the crew on the Revenge took over the Amity. Then they all sailed over to New Orleans. Colonel Gower and Lieutenant Hale were kept prisoners and Creighton, disguised as a bound boy, befriended Ben Franklin and helped Franklin and Sophie, a hired French servant, in the print shop. Creighton helped his Uncle escape, thinking his uncle would let him escape with him. Unfortunately, Creighton was left behind. So, the only person that new that Creighton was the one who helped the two prisoners escape was Ben Franklin and luckily for Creighton, Ben assured him that his secret would remain a secret. After many conflicts, including the death of Ben Franklin in a fire, happened, Creighton, Benedict Arnold, and Peter, a “giant” at age 15 (6 and a half feet tall) went to Florida to be spies and act as turncoats. Unfortunately, Colonel Gower and Arnold got into a duel and Arnold killed Gower. Gower’s last word were “St. Marks. Number four.” The three “turncoats”, thinking that that was where General Washington was being kept, went there only to find Creighton’s father, who was thought to be dead. So they took Major Harry Brown and left to go back to New Orleans. In the end, Creighton realized that the war and all wars were pointless, and that “There never was a good war or a bad peace.”
THE YEAR OF THE HANGMAN VS MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD
In both books, General Benedict Arnold was a character. In The Year of the Hangman, however, the General was a main character while in My Brother Sam is Dead, he was a side character. Also, My Brother Sam is Dead, was written in the genre of Historical Fiction, so there were similar events and characters in the story compared to real history. The Year of the Hangman, however, was in the genre of Alternate History. So even hough there were characters that really existed, the actions that happened were mostly opposite of what really happened. In the book, the Americans were losing the war while the Americans had won in actual history.
Professional Review
Year of the Hangman (continued)
Disliked: The story did not end with the "end", or what's supposed to be the end, of the war/riot.
