Five Aprils pass marking the seasons of change for a young boy, from age 9 to 14, growing up in southern Illinois who comes of age during the American Civil War. Irene Hunt’s award-winning book Across Five Aprils depicts a family affected by war in this historically detailed narrative based on her grandfather’s stories of experiencing life during a pivotal and tragic era in American history.
Story Line

Jethro Creighton is the youngest of twelve in the Creighton family. A hard-working farm family laboring from sun up to sundown in the soil of southern Illinois, Jethro’s family is familiar with sorrow and death. Three children died during an epidemic the same year Jethro was born; one daughter was killed in a terrible wagon accident, and the eldest son has been missing ever since he left to find gold in California. When news arrives that war has broken out between the northern and southern states, the Creightons fear losing more of their precious family.

Nine-year old Jethro Creighton, his older brother Tom, and cousin Eb glorify the war and dream about being soldiers, but excitement about the war quickly turns to worry. Jethro’s brother Bill decides to enlist with the South while his other brothers John and Tom, cousin Eb, and beloved schoolmaster Shad Yale join the North. Bill’s decision to fight for the South stirs up strong feelings among some of the members of the Creighton’s community, leading to malicious threats and taunts.

After the young men leave, Jethro relishes his new responsibilities, but when his father suffers a heart attack and is unable to care for the farm, the heavy weight of change bears down hard on Jethro's shoulders. Driving the team of horses, working the land, and helping his sister-in-law with her property takes Jethro from his carefree days of planting potatoes and talking philosophy with his mother to plowing fields and talking politics and news with the men.

Threats of violence become real when Jethro goes to town and inadvertently find himself defending his brother Bill to a room full of angry young men. While driving his wagon home, an unlikely hero saves Jethro from a potential tragedy, an unsettling event which he chooses to keep secret from his family. Shortly thereafter, the Creighton's barn is set on fire and coal oil is poured into their well water. Friends and a few supportive neighbors come together to help the careworn Creightons.

With his world shifting dramatically around him, Jethro is forced to make a monumental decision when he discovers his cousin Eb hiding in the woods near the Creighton home. According to the military, Eb is a traitor and Jethro knows the penalty for harboring a traitor could become a tragedy for everyone involved.