Across Five Aprils-Book 24

This book, Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, was one of my very favorites as a child.  I am sure I read it several times at least.  I remember the line in the book about how Jenny, the main character's sister, made sure her brother got the first lettuce of the season from the garden really made me stop and think about what life must have been like before you could run to the grocery store and buy lettuce at any time of the year.  I remember as a child that was such an eye-opener to me.

The story is about a young boy of eight, named Jethro Creighton and it begins the April the Civil War breaks out.  Jethro lives in Southern Illinois away from where all the fighting takes place, but the tensions and the horror of war are still visited upon him and his family.  He has three brothers, a cousin and a beloved school teacher, who is also his sister's beau, who all go to war.  The brother he is closest to, fights for the South, while all the others fight for the North. The books ends in April again, just after Lincoln has been assassinated and Jethro is now 13 years old.

The family was not unfamiliar with tragedy.  Ellen, the mother, has seen four of her children die.   Three in one summer from disease and an older daughter in a tragic incident that has caused bad feelings among their neighbors.  Jethro is the youngest. But, of course, the war brings more sadness and fear and the family struggles to hold on. It really is a tale of Jethro's coming of age, for the family is forced to rely on him to keep them going.

Hunt is a lyrical writer.  Her prose is beautiful.  She manages to weave clear facts about the war as it progresses with the story of the Creightons' day to day life.  She does this through the newspapers and letters the family reads.  Hunt is sympathetic to both sides and is very good at illustrating the passions and views of both.

I read this aloud to my 13 year old.  As usual, he resisted for the first half of the book.  You have to be very patient with Sean!  But by the end he was interested and was very moved at the book's conclusion.  The book respects the intelligence of its young readers and really is quite thought-provoking.    We read the book fairly slowly over the course of a few months.  Just a few weeks ago we managed to go on a little field trip, where we visited the Old Courthouse Museum in Winchester, VA which is a small museum that records much of the turmoil that town encountered during the Civil War.  Sean, who doesn't have much tolerance for field trips, enjoyed it a lot. So I give this beloved book two thumbs up!

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