Picture a mom in a store with no free hands, one hand on the cart, child, items while telling her kids to stop running around. In the book Across Five Aprils a mom of twelve children. Her name is Ellen Creighton. Ellen works on a farm, her nine year old son Jethro helps her plant potato's for the summer. A sad part of this family is that four of the twelve children have died. She is tire every day she goes to Jethro when she needs help for something, she can always rely on her son Jethro. Jethro has had three siblings that have died from a desise. Jethro was lucky enought not to get it. The desises is called children Paralyisis.

His mom belives that jethro is a one of a kind child one sent from heaven to help her on the farm and day to day. They live in a bad area of war and fighting. the area is split up into two halves the North and the South. This story takes place during the american revolution. There was talk about Abraham lincons election of free states and slave states. A rebellion was on hands and a war was going to start.