Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Jul. 24th, 2006 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksAcross Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
The first time I read AFA was in Mr. Barnett’s 8th grade English class. We had to select a book with a coming of age theme, and do a collage based on it plus the regular book report. I remember reading a bunch of books, but AFA, a nameless book set in Maine, and another nameless book set in Hawaii are the only three that I have any recall of. [Btw, the nameless book had a heroine who did lobstering and diving, and I’d love to read it again if it tickles anyone’s memory. The Hawaii book had a native Hawaiian hero and a white heroine, same thing.]
AFA begins in the first April of the American Civil War. Jethro, the youngest of a large, poor farming family in southern Illinois, is the protagonist. The tensions of the adult world and the coming war are only vague things to him at the outset. He loves his brother Bill, his teacher Shad, and his sister Jenny; he loves school and works hard on the farm. But all too soon, the war is front and center in his life. His brothers go off to fight, two for the Union and one for the Confederacy; Shad follows soon after. He and his family follow the war as closely as possible, reading from weeks old papers and waiting for the periodic letter from the front.
Each April of the war is marked both by joy and by tragedy. The first year the joyous and tragic events are Jeth’s ascension to the “adult table” because he is doing adult work in the fields, followed by the declaration of war. The last year’s are the end of the war followed by Lincoln’s assassination. The intervening years’ Aprils include personal and public disasters and triumphs.
What did I love about Across Five Aprils and why was it so memorable? The human perspective it put on the American Civil War. Before reading it, I could spout all kinds of data about Antietam and Grant and Lee and Lincoln, but reading about the Creighton family made the history more personal to me.
The dialogue is in local dialect. Education is a driving goal of Jethro’s, and encounters with better-educated and better-spoken people are milestones in his development as a character. I’m not a fan of brogues and dialects generally, but it worked here.
What didn’t I love about AFA? The last third of the book slowed down dramatically, and shifted from the family perspective to a timeline of battles and history events. The distance was extremely noticeable. It may have been intentional: Jethro’s mother reflects how much older and aloof he has become at one point, so maybe the narrative change was supposed to mirror that? Maybe, but it didn’t work so much for me.
The very end of the book was a little bit of a let down – I want to know more of Jeth’s future. The book ended fairly early after the end of the war, and I want (need!) to know how his schooling turned out, if his brother Bill ever came home, etc.
Despite the slow ending, Across Five Aprils remains on my keeper shelf, and every so often I take it down and read it again.
This beautifully written novel offers valuable insights into the difficulties faced by families and communities caught up in the political, economic, and personal upheavals of war. The events of the Civil War unfold Across Five Aprils (Berkley Pub., 1986) in this moving story by Newbery Award winner, Irene Hunt. It is set in southern Illinois where Jethro Creighton, an intelligent, hardworking boy, is growing into manhood as his brothers and a beloved teacher leave to fight in the Union and Confederate armies. Hunt presents a balanced look at both sides of the conflict, and includes interesting information on lesser-known leaders and battles. Barbara Wysocki, Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill, CT
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Amazon.com
The first time I read AFA was in Mr. Barnett’s 8th grade English class. We had to select a book with a coming of age theme, and do a collage based on it plus the regular book report. I remember reading a bunch of books, but AFA, a nameless book set in Maine, and another nameless book set in Hawaii are the only three that I have any recall of. [Btw, the nameless book had a heroine who did lobstering and diving, and I’d love to read it again if it tickles anyone’s memory. The Hawaii book had a native Hawaiian hero and a white heroine, same thing.]
AFA begins in the first April of the American Civil War. Jethro, the youngest of a large, poor farming family in southern Illinois, is the protagonist. The tensions of the adult world and the coming war are only vague things to him at the outset. He loves his brother Bill, his teacher Shad, and his sister Jenny; he loves school and works hard on the farm. But all too soon, the war is front and center in his life. His brothers go off to fight, two for the Union and one for the Confederacy; Shad follows soon after. He and his family follow the war as closely as possible, reading from weeks old papers and waiting for the periodic letter from the front.
Each April of the war is marked both by joy and by tragedy. The first year the joyous and tragic events are Jeth’s ascension to the “adult table” because he is doing adult work in the fields, followed by the declaration of war. The last year’s are the end of the war followed by Lincoln’s assassination. The intervening years’ Aprils include personal and public disasters and triumphs.
What did I love about Across Five Aprils and why was it so memorable? The human perspective it put on the American Civil War. Before reading it, I could spout all kinds of data about Antietam and Grant and Lee and Lincoln, but reading about the Creighton family made the history more personal to me.
The dialogue is in local dialect. Education is a driving goal of Jethro’s, and encounters with better-educated and better-spoken people are milestones in his development as a character. I’m not a fan of brogues and dialects generally, but it worked here.
What didn’t I love about AFA? The last third of the book slowed down dramatically, and shifted from the family perspective to a timeline of battles and history events. The distance was extremely noticeable. It may have been intentional: Jethro’s mother reflects how much older and aloof he has become at one point, so maybe the narrative change was supposed to mirror that? Maybe, but it didn’t work so much for me.
The very end of the book was a little bit of a let down – I want to know more of Jeth’s future. The book ended fairly early after the end of the war, and I want (need!) to know how his schooling turned out, if his brother Bill ever came home, etc.
Despite the slow ending, Across Five Aprils remains on my keeper shelf, and every so often I take it down and read it again.
