1. Student Name
Reading-Miss Roche
Period 3
Due Date

2.  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

3.  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.

4.  Main Characters:
1. Jethro Creighton: narrator of novel, teenager, loves
learning, close to his older sister, has a lot of labor
responsibilities
2. 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 himself
2. 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)

5.  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

6.  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

7. 1. melancholy- n. sadness
“I was melancholy at the sight of losing Shadrach to another
school.” P. 14
2. 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. 32
3.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. 170
5.Copperhead- n. a Northerner who sympathizes with the South
“Bill Creighton would forever be deemed a Copperhead.” p. 89

8.  Jethro Creighton played by: Luke Benward

9.  Jenny Creighton played by: Leighton Meester
 Shadrach Yale played by: Hayden Christensen

10.  Bill Creighton played by: Chris Pine

11.  Dave Burdow played by: Christopher Walken
Ross Milton played by:
Gary Gary Sinise

12. 1. Battle Scenes
Taken from The Patriot Soundtrack;
Track 7: “Preparing for Battle”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMp1R9EtK
ng&feature=related

13. 2. A scene where Shadrach is writing a letter to Jenny while he is off fighting
“Forget Me Not” by the Civil Wars
I've been awaiting for you
And you've been awaiting for me
Tell me that you'll always be true
And you'll be the only one for me
Forget me not my dear, my darling
Forget me not my love
I just wanna hold your hand
Hang on every word you say
Let's write a song for us
And sing until we're old and grey
Forget me not my dear, my darling
Forget me not my love
I'm coming home real soon
Please leave a light on for me
Tell me that you'll always be true
And you'll be the only one for me
Yes, you'll be the only one for me

14. I 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.

15. 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