Across Five Aprils is a wonderfully written, coming-of-age story by Irene Hunt about the Civil War.

Less about the Union versus the Confederacy and the defining issues that brought the United States into conflict, Across Five Aprils focuses more on the travesty of war itself.

Stalin famously said that “one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” The personal implications and heartache of a bereaved family and community are felt deeply when an individual death seems untimely and unnatural; when losses happen en masse, we are prone to forget the ramifications of each life lost.

In the case of 11 year-old Jethro Craighton’s family, the sad realities of a nation at war hit home when his older brothers go off to fight for the Union, but his favorite brother, Bill, leaves to fight for the Rebels.

Living in Southern Illinois, Jethro must wrestle through the intricate emotional conflicts of a border-state family during the Civil War. Not everything is so black and white when people he loves are on either side.

Drawing from the author’s family records, Across Five Aprils is a historically authenticated novel, with highly detailed battle scenes and strategies that appealed to our boys especially.

Bloodshed, hate, tears, love, loyalty and compassion are interwoven throughout the story, leaving the reader with a sense of what life was like for those fighting one of the most terrible wars in United States history, and for those who were left at home, struggling to make ends meet with most of the able-bodied men gone off to war.

Though slightly slanted in favor of the Union and Old Abe, I would highly recommend reading Across Five Aprils as a family read-aloud, or for young men ages 12 and up. The Civil War chapter in any history textbook doesn’t hold a candle to what you will learn in Across Five Aprils.