April Morning (1961) by Howard Fast

 1001 Novels: A Library of America

April Morning (1961)

by Howard Fast
Lexington, Massachusetts

Massachusetts: 4/30

    At last, a work of historical fiction on the 1001 Novels: A Library of America, list.  Not that I love historical fiction but there have been so many works of contemporary fiction with protagonists that rely heavily on single moms, their sad kids and the alcoholic/absent father- I'm about to tote up all of northern New England: Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont, and I'm guessing the number of titles with sad single moms and their alcoholic/absent husbands is at least 50 percent.

  Why not more historical fiction?  I mean, I know why, because it is very unfashionable and deeply uncool and very little of it has been written in the past couple decades, in terms of the canon.  I found April Morning, a fictionalized account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, very interesting.  The story is told through the eyes of Adam Cooper, a 15 year old boy on the cusp of manhood who finds his life turned upside down in the days surrounding the battle.   April Morning is an interesting example of a book that was intended for adults but found wider acceptance as a "YA title" because of the coming of age elements surrounding his main character.