April Morning

April Morning

• Genre: Fiction; young adult historical
• Originally Published: 1961
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1050L; grades 5-9
• Structure/Length: 8 chapters; approx. 208 pages; approx. 4 hours, 42 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: Fifteen-year-old Adam Cooper cannot wait to join the Revolutionary War. When his father dies on the village green during the Battle of Lexington, Adam must face columns of marching men, testing his resolve.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: War violence; reference to indigenous people as “Indians”

Howard Fast, Author

• Bio: 1914-2003; prolific American novelist and television writer; wrote first novel, Two Valleys, at 18 while hitchhiking and riding railroads around the country; wrote for Voice of America during World War II; role in the Communist Party USA had him called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities; sent to prison for three months when he refused to disclose other names during his House testimony; ran for Congress on the American Labor Party ticket in 1952; cut ties with the Communist Party in 1956, denouncing Stalin’s dictatorship; moved to California in the 1970s and wrote television scripts for various programs, including How the West Was Won.
• Other Works: My Glorious Brothers (1948); Spartacus (1951); Power (1962); The Hessian (1972); Max (1982); Redemption (1999)

CENTRAL THEMES  connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Coming of Age Through Trauma
• The Tenets of Faith Versus the Application of Reason
• Warfare’s Proper Role in Society

STUDY OBJECTIVES:  In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the cultural and historical contexts of the American Revolution that incite Adam’s conflict.
• Analyze paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Coming of Age Through Trauma, The Tenets of Faith Versus the Application of Reason, and Warfare’s Proper Role in Society.
• Plan and construct a sequel to April Morning during the Revolutionary War using textual details.
• Analyze and evaluate the plot and character details to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding Moses’s parenting, gender roles, and other topics.