This is a real county, located in the southern (but not extreme southern) part of the state the county seat Newton and the smaller community of Hidalgo, both mentioned in the book, are actual places. Our geographical setting is Jasper County, Ilinois. The titular 'five Aprils' here are the five from April 1861 to April 1865. This month, an unexpected window of opportunity for working in a short book gave me a chance to do that. I first read it in the mid 60s and liked it, but had never reviewed it here because I felt that I first needed to reread it. Perhaps Hunt or her publisher felt like they'd beaten up the psyche of us kids enough to that point.įirst published in 1964, this short (188 pages) novel was written for younger readers, but like other quality fiction for that demographic is also appreciable for adults. I recall the ending feeling a bit slapped on for happiness sake and that a happy ending that made sense in the context of the story to that point would've felt more natural, if a happy ending must happen that is.

It's a large family with daughters embroiled in their own private war of romance and love held in check. Like the town they live in, most are pro-Union, but one of them sides with the Confederacy, and so he and the family suffer. The story is told from the perspective of the youngest son watching his older brothers go off to war. Just the same, Across Five Aprils, the story of brothers torn apart by the America Civil War, did win the Newbery, so it must've been doing something right. Mind you, I also thought TV's The Waltons was the height of drama, so maybe my opinion is a bit skewed on the subject. I remember this as eloquently rendered and high-minded, gut-wrenching drama when I read it way back then. Across Five Aprils was required reading in 6th grade and it was as if the teacher's were saying 'Life's a bitch, get used to it.' Do they make kid's books like this sort anymore? Real and real painful.

Across five aprils author