Across five aprils follows the life of Jethro Creighton, a young farm boy in rural Illinois as he grows from a protected and provided for nine year old, to a educated and responsible young adult during the chaos of the civil war. In the beginning of the book Jethro has a romanced and incorrect idea of what war is like. Jethro knows little about war except that of what he has heard from old war …showed first 75 words of 373 total…

…showed last 75 words of 373 total…of marrying. Through all the confusion and fighting Jethro somehow manages to form his own ideas and opinions that create the new and more mature adult in him. His ideas and thoughts are more complete and he is no longer the childish nine year old who was excited for war to start. This is all relevant to the fact that the war had caused he and his family a great deal of pain and distress