ACROSS FIVE APRILS

BY: IRENE HUNT

Student Name

Reading-Miss Roche

Period 3

Due Date

IRENE HUNT: BIOGRAPHY Irene Hunt was born on May 18, 1907. Irene grew up with her

mother and grandparents on a farm in Illinois. Irene grew to be very close to her Grandfather and loved to listen to the stories he told of his childhood during the Civil War. From these stories came her first novel, Across Five Aprils. Irene wrote this classic in 1963 and when it was published in 1964 she was 57 years old. Across Five Aprils was named a Newbery Honor book in 1965. She has also written a few other successful books after Across Five Aprils. Ms. Hunt worked as a French and English teacher for 17 years. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana and the University of Minnesota. She retired from teaching in 1969.

Webpage: http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/hunt_irene.html

SUMMARY Across Five Aprils is a historical novel about a boy

who grows up during the Civil War (1861-1865). Jethro Creighton’s family farms in Southern Illinois and is divided about which side of the war to support. Two of his brothers fight for the North and one fights for the South. The remaining family members face trouble from the community because of the brother who went South. When Jethro's father has a heart attack, Jethro has to become the man of the family and the main farmer. Even though Jethro starts the novel as a young boy, he grows up quickly with his new responsibilities to his family, as well as experiencing the harsh realities of war. What man will Jethro become? How will the war affect his family and community? Read on to find out.

CHARACTERS Main Characters:1. Jethro Creighton: narrator of novel, teenager, loves learning,

close to his older sister, has a lot of labor responsibilities2. Jenny Creighton: older sister of Jethro, very nurturing, very

smart, does a lot of cooking/farming, is very beautiful with long dark hair, has a crush on Shadrach

3. Shadrach Yale: young school teacher, very educated, respects/close to all Creighton family members.

Supporting Characters:1. Bill Creighton: older brother of Jethro, very sensitive and

smart, likes to keep to himself2. Dave Burdow: older man, townspeople have a negative

attitude to him, keeps quiet, but surprises people with kindness when they least expect it

3. Ross Milton: wise newspaper reporter, befriends and helps open Jethro’s eyes towards education and realities about the war, does have a crippled leg (walks with cane)

PLOT Introduction

-Meet the Creighton Family-Setting: April 1861 in Southern Illinois

Rising Action-Family discusses the reasons for the Civil War-Jethro’s brothers start choosing what side to fight for-Jethro assumes more responsibilities for family-Wishes he could be a soldier because he thinks war is

“cool”-Jethro’s male role models leave for war, leaving him

very sad/anxious-Jethro and family have bad experiences with

townspeople beginning to turn on his family

PLOT CONTINUED Climax

- Jethro receives the news of some people close to him of their bad fortune such as death, assassination, abandonment

Falling Action-really matures and sees the harshness and difficulty of war-learns the importance of hard work, labor, and education-Becomes the head of the household at a young age-experiences the feeling of loss when those close to him dies

Conclusion-The Civil War has ended with the Union beating the

Confederate-Life in the Creighton household begins to adjust after the

devastation of war; things are not all positive changes-Jethro begins to focus on a new chapter of his life and

begins to have dreams for his future

NEW VOCABULARY1. melancholy- n. sadness“I was melancholy at the sight of losing Shadrach to another

school.” P. 142. stoic- n. a person who is indifferent to emotions; adj.

unaffected by pain or pleasure“I could not tell if Tommy was a trusting person; he always was

very stoic.” p. 323.clemency- n. mercy“We knew the town would not grant our brother Clemency if he

returned from the war for choosing to fight for the South.” p. 125

4. tumult- n. a disturbance of a crowd“A great tumult occurred when we heard shots fired near our

city center.” p. 1705.Copperhead- n. a Northerner who sympathizes with the

South“Bill Creighton would forever be deemed a Copperhead.” p. 89

STARRING ACTORS: Jethro Creighton played by: Luke

Benward

STARRING ACTORS: Jenny Creighton played by: Leighton Meester

Shadrach Yale played by: Hayden Christensen

STARRING ACTORS: Bill Creighton played by: Chris Pine

STARRING ACTORS: Dave Burdow played by: Christopher

Walken

Ross Milton played by: Gary Gary Sinise

SOUNDTRACK TUNES1. Battle Scenes

Taken from The Patriot Soundtrack; Track 7: “Preparing for Battle”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMp1R9EtKng&feature=related

SOUNDTRACK TUNES CONT. 2. A scene where Shadrach is writing a letter to Jenny while he is off fighting

“Forget Me Not” by the Civil WarsI've been awaiting for you

And you've been awaiting for meTell me that you'll always be trueAnd you'll be the only one for me

Forget me not my dear, my darlingForget me not my love

I just wanna hold your handHang on every word you say

Let's write a song for usAnd sing until we're old and grey

Forget me not my dear, my darlingForget me not my love

I'm coming home real soonPlease leave a light on for me

Tell me that you'll always be trueAnd you'll be the only one for meYes, you'll be the only one for me

RATINGI gave Across Five Aprils a rating of

4.5 out of 5 stars

The book had great character development, a lot of Civil War action and factual information, but the dialog was spelled according to their accents. This made some things difficult to read and I had to actually say it out loud to

hear what they meant in proper English.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

Other novels that deal with wars-Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac (WWII in

the Pacific)-Night by Ellie Weisel (WWII Holocaust

Survivor)-Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

(American Revolution)Other Novels by Irene Hunt

-Up a Road Slowly-No Promises in the Wind