His father becomes quite sick and he has to become the man of the house because his 18 year old brother is out fighting for the North. In the end of the book, after having to face all of the tragedies of war, he is 13 years old and is much more gentle with people and acts more like an adult rather than a child. During the war he is much more anxious and fearful because of all of the tragic events that he faced during the war.
When the book begins, Jethro starts out as a nine year old who still acts like a child. Jethro has to learn to do things on his own because he doesn’t have any strong influences nearby. Despite the large number of Civil War books, there is always room left for one like this.Across Five Aprils is a Historical Fiction book about a remarkable boy named Jethro Creighton, who strongly matures during the Civil war when his teacher and his brother leave for the war. A beautifully written, spare prose makes all this come vividly, sometimes painfully, alive. The joy of peace is lost in the tragedy of Lincoln's assassination, yet life must go on, and Jethro faces his life with the maturity of one who has been tested. He has himself gone from boyhood to manhood in these pages. By April 1865, he has lost his brother Tom, witnessed the burning of his father's barn because his brother Bill joined the Confederates and seen his father become an old man. In 1861, young Jethro Creighton is warmed by the romantic idea of war of banners flying, bands playing, men marching. April is the month of beginnings and endings, when the cold winds reluctantly give way to the soft breezes that signal rebirth. It begins in April, 1861 on the Creighton farm in southern Illinois it ends on the same farm in April, 1865, thus the title.
It is, as the publisher claims, a book for all age levels, although older readers will be better able to appreciate its many nuances.
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