四月早晨 (1961)

四月早晨（英文：April Morning）为以1775年4月18日美洲英国殖民地（后成为美国）与英国战争为背景所发生的事情，本书描写了主人公亚当于战争背景，从14岁到26岁的成长过程。故事的发生地点为马萨诸塞州。故事中描写了亚当本人以及亚当失去父亲后的故事。四月早晨于美国经常为历史教育书籍。

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马萨诸塞州

April Morning is a 1961 novel by Howard Fast about the coming of age of 15-year-old Adam Cooper during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. One critic notes that in the beginning of the novel he is "dressed down by his father, Moses, misunderstood by his mother, Sarah, and plagued by his brother, Levi." In the story's background are the peaceful people of Lexington, forced "to go into a way of war that they abhorred."

While the novel was not originally written as young adult fiction, it has often been assigned in middle school English and social studies classes, due to the age of the protagonist and Fast's meticulous efforts to recreate the texture of daily life in colonial America and the political currents on the eve of the American Revolution.

In 1988, April Morning was adapted into a made-for-TV movie starring Chad Lowe as Adam Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones as Moses Cooper.

Plot

The novel begins in Lexington on the afternoon of April 18, 1775, when Moses Cooper sends Adam out to draw water from the well for his mother Sarah. Adam then goes upstairs to see his father's mother, Granny, who lives with them and is the only adult in the house to treat the teenage boy with kindness. The Cooper family members gather downstairs for supper. After saying a prayer, they enjoy a meal of bread pudding and "donkers". In the middle of supper, Moses confronts Adam about a superstitious incantation the boy had reportedly said while drawing water (Moses values reason and strongly disapproves of vestiges of superstition). This starts an argument between father and son, which is interrupted by the arrival of Cousin Simmons. He was chosen by the town to draft a statement on the rights of man—a subject on the minds of Massachusetts colonists restive under British rule. Simmons asks Moses to review what he has written. Another debate arises over the statement's characterization of rights as "God-given". Moses asserts that rights come from the people, not from God.

After supper and evening chores, Adam leaves for the Simmons' house to meet with their daughter Ruth, his love interest. They take a walk and speak about various things, including their futures and what they want to be in the world. After a kiss, Adam returns to his house. He spots his younger brother, Levi, cleaning his gun. He does not like this but Sarah insists that Levi can do it safely. Adam heads upstairs and goes to bed. He listens to his parents talk about a committee meeting where the townspeople discussed what the British might do in the face of increasing unrest in the American colonies.

Shortly after falling asleep, Adam is awakened by Levi, who draws his attention to the loud hoofbeats of a speedy horseback rider. The rider suddenly stops in the center of town. All the people of Lexington are awake and curious. They gather around the rider on the green. He informs them that a thousand-strong contingent of redcoat soldiers have landed in Boston and may soon be marching through their town. He then rides off. Because of this news, arguments stir in the crowd as to whether to muster the militia. The consensus is that a militia is needed. Adam signs up, but is first tasked with taking Ruth Simmons home. She expresses fears for his safety if a battle should erupt. When he reaches his house, he overhears Moses and Sarah reluctantly accept that Adam has entered manhood and must do his duty. Adam loads his gun, which only fires birdshot, and walks with his father to the green where the militia members, numbering less than a hundred, are assembling in the pre-dawn hours.