Irene Hunt's Across Five Aprils

Across Five Aprils

This Newberry award nominated book, written by Irene Hunt, tells the story of the “home life” of her grandfather, Jethro, during the Civil War. Not only does it give a sense of what it is like to be in the war but also it really tells you exactly what the men leave behind. Jethro is forced to make hard decisions, and face many hardships a boy his age shouldn't have to undergo. This is an admirable historical fiction book that leaves it up to the reader to decide if being at home was the superior choice or if being a soldier in the war was.

The setting of this book was especially essential to the plot. The story takes place in Southern Illinois during the American Civil War, from April of 1861 to April of 1865, hence the title Across Five Aprils. These Illinoisans were a scattered group of people basically made up of women, men, and children who moved there from the south. This created a lot of controversy when the Confederate states secede from the Union. Because of their upbringing many families had fathers fighting sons and brother’s fighting brothers. The hostility in the towns in Illinois made even the best of friends become the worst of enemies.

Characters also play a very important role in this book. Jethro Creighton is the main character in the novel. He is the youngest in his family, a mere nine years old. He was an intelligent boy who enjoyed reading and liked school very much. This probably had something to do with the fact that Shadrach Yale taught his class.

Mr. Yale Moved to Illinois from Philadelphia. Jethro listened to everything Shad taught and told him. Shad admired Jethro’s spirit and pleasure in learning. Although Shad liked Jethro’s company, he loved Jenny’s even more.

Jenny was Jethro’s sister. She helped Jethro in the fields, and made dinner. Her and Jethro shared basically everything including laughter. The only thing Jenny did not want to share was her letters from Shadrach. Shad and Jenny were in love, and all Jethro had to do was mention Mr. Yale’s name and Jenny would blush.

Although Jethro knew he could talk to Jenny about anything, he preferred confiding in his brother Bill.