Across Five Aprils
Irene Hunt
Berkley Books 2002
Summary
Jethro is nine years old, living in southern Illinois when the Civil War breaks out. Even as a young boy Jethro understands the significance of the war. Through listening to the adults discuss the war he gains his own opinions about politics and the war. This book covers the entire Civil War, and throughout the book as tragedy and disappointment strike Jethro's family he grows to be a man and comes the realization that life isn't fair, but if he can deal with it then there will be happy times.
Personal Review
I loved this book, although it did read a little differently than most YA books. It was first published in 1965, so the style of it is different than today's style. There is a lot of summary in it, but the Hunt does an excellent job of balancing it out with having the characters tell the readers about what's going on in the book.
The history is extremely accurate as well, and Hunt has some characters believe one thing while others believe another--to balance it all out.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction.
Cautionary Notes
The only thing that I would caution readers about is slightly violent acts and reports of death (although it is the Civil War, what else do you expect?) But some of Jethro's neighbors don't like his father, so they torment him on some occasions, but in my opinion it's nothing to worry about.
Irene Hunt
Berkley Books 2002
Summary
Jethro is nine years old, living in southern Illinois when the Civil War breaks out. Even as a young boy Jethro understands the significance of the war. Through listening to the adults discuss the war he gains his own opinions about politics and the war. This book covers the entire Civil War, and throughout the book as tragedy and disappointment strike Jethro's family he grows to be a man and comes the realization that life isn't fair, but if he can deal with it then there will be happy times.
Personal Review
I loved this book, although it did read a little differently than most YA books. It was first published in 1965, so the style of it is different than today's style. There is a lot of summary in it, but the Hunt does an excellent job of balancing it out with having the characters tell the readers about what's going on in the book.
The history is extremely accurate as well, and Hunt has some characters believe one thing while others believe another--to balance it all out.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction.
Cautionary Notes
The only thing that I would caution readers about is slightly violent acts and reports of death (although it is the Civil War, what else do you expect?) But some of Jethro's neighbors don't like his father, so they torment him on some occasions, but in my opinion it's nothing to worry about.
No comments:
Post a Comment