Irene Hunt was born to Franklin P. and Sarah Land Hunt on May 18, 1907 in Pontiac, Illinois. The family soon moved to Newton, Illinois, but Franklin died when Hunt was only seven, and the family moved again to be close to Hunt's grandparents. Hunt's childhood was lonely, but she shared a special relationship with her grandfather who told her stories about his childhood during the Civil War. The stories she heard from her grandfather became the basis of the story of Jethro in her Newbery Honor book Across Five Aprils

Across Five Aprils

Across Five Aprils is a novel by Irene Hunt, set in the Civil War era. Jethro Creighton, the main character, was Irene Hunt's real grandfather. He told her the stories, and she incorporated them into Across Five Aprils.-Plot summary:...

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Hunt graduated from the University of Illinois in Urbana

Urbana

Urbana can refer to:In geography:United States*Urbana, Illinois**Urbana , a Christian convention formerly held in Urbana, Illinois*Urbana, Indiana*Urbana, Iowa*Urbana, Maryland*Urbana, Missouri*Urbana, New York*Urbana, Ohio...

 to go onto University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

, Minneapolis where she earned her M.A.