Across Five Aprils

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, published in 1964, won the Newbery Award in 1965. Set in the civil war era, the novel documents Ellen Creighton, mother of twelve children, including her son Jethro, who struggles to come to grips with the world around him as he matures into a young man during these tumultuous times.

As the novel opens, it is an April morning in 1861. Ellen and her son Jethro are planting potatoes on the family farm in Illinois. Ellen is a hardened old woman who has endured her fair share of hardships during her life. She has a soft spot for Jethro, one of her twelve children, although three died of a contagious disease the same year Jethro was born.

As Jethro and his mother work the fields in silence, Shad Yale sets out to Newtown in his wagon. Shad, the local schoolmaster, came to know the Creighton family through Matt, Jethro’s father, the director at the school and a highly respected member of the community. Shad got a teaching job in order to pay for his own college education.

Set against the backdrop of the civil war, at first, Jethro is intrigued by the concept of war. He admires the soldiers and their valiant patriotism. Soon, Jethro is saying goodbye to three of his brothers, a cousin, and his teacher as they all go off to fight for their country. Jethro and his family watch from the sidelines, getting information from the newspaper, though it is hard to tell exactly what is going on.

One day, Jethro’s parents ask him to take the horses into town to pick up some supplies. Jethro is excited to have been given such a responsibility and is eager to prove himself to his parents. While making some purchases at the store, he starts talking to some men; one of them asks him about his brother Bill, who decided to fight for the South. The man badmouths Bill, making him out to be a traitor, but Jethro stands by his brother. Milton, the editor of the town paper, takes Jethro to lunch to make up for the trouble, and the two begin a friendship that continues through the rest of the book.

The men from the store begin to harass the Creighton’s. One of them is waiting for Jethro as he makes his way back from town, but luckily, a friend helps him ward off the offender. The trouble doesn’t stop there, though. The Creighton’s are sick with worry for fear that the threats against their family will escalate.

One day, the family receives a visit from a boy who is on leave from battle due to an injury. He delivers the news: their son Tom is dead. The Creighton’s are devastated by the news. As they mourn, Milton publishes a letter he has written in the paper saying that those who have been tormenting the Creighton’s should back off, that they have suffered enough. This dissuades the harassers and the attacks against the family stop.

Not long after receiving the news about Tom, Matt has a heart attack, leaving him unable to work the field and tend to the farm. Jethro and his sister Jenny take over for their father. All the while, they continue to follow the war through the information provided to them by the newspapers. The conflict seems to be going back and forth with no real resolution in sight. The newspapers remain vague; the only concrete detail they are able to glean is the horrific death toll.

As Jethro is tending to the fields one day, he hears a noise in the woods nearby. He goes to check it out and finds his cousin Eb who has abandoned the war, saying that the conditions were inhumane and he could no longer bring himself to continue fighting. He says that the soldiers do not believe they can actually win the war. Conflicted, Jethro decides to help his cousin Eb, bringing him food and blankets. He doesn’t tell the rest of his family because he knows they could be subject to punishment for housing a deserter.

Jethro writes to President Lincoln to express his concern about the war and to ask for advice. Lincoln writes back, telling Jethro that he has been struggling to come to terms with the same problems and that he plans to grant amnesty to deserters who resume their position.

Soon after, Jethro receives word that his former teacher Shad has been critically injured in battle. Jethro’s sister Jenny who is in love with Shad leaves for Washington D.C. to see him one last time and to say goodbye. In the end, she nurses him back to health, and her father agrees to their marriage.

The Confederate Army surrenders, which seems to indicate that the war is about to end. Just as the Creighton’s start to think life might return to normal, President Lincoln is assassinated. Overwhelmed with grief, Jethro finds that nothing brings him comfort. Disillusioned by the concept of war, he questions his own patriotism and his loyalty to his country.