The War That Saved My Life
Title: The
War That Saved My Life
Genre: Newbery
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Awards: 2016 Newbery Honor
Age Group: 9-12 years old
I actually really enjoyed this book, even
though I have never usually been a fan of historical fiction or war stories. It
was a great read that kept me on the edge of my seat as well as emotional at
parts. Overall, it is a great story to read and I would recommend it in the
future.
Summary:
The War That Saved My Life is set in England during World War 2; it
follows 10-year-old Ada and 6-year old-Jamie, who ran away from their abusive
mother and were taken in by Susan Smith. The only life Ada had known before
this was one of shame and misery being confined to a small room all day and
only getting to look out a window because her mother was too ashamed of her
since she had been born with a clubfoot and could only see her as a crippled
child. Ada was used to being hit by her mother and having to stay in a roach-infested
cabinet all night. One day, she heard that because of the war and London being
a possible place for bombing, parents were sending their children away. This is
when Ada believes she could turn her life around, but Ada finds out that her
mom was only allowing Jamie to go and not Ada, so the pair runs away. Then they
meet Susan, who had no choice but to take them in. Susan lived alone and had
never taken care of children before. At first Ada and Jamie have a hard time
adjusting to their new environment and Susan. Ada finds she barely knows
anything about the world, and she doesn’t know how to read or write and gets
very frustrated easily by this. Susan has to help these children, and even
though realizing that they are neglected and abused by their mother, she does
everything she can for them. Ada finds some comfort in riding Susan’s horse,
Butter. She gets very good at riding and uses this as a safe place. Meanwhile,
Jamie finds some comfort in a cat named Bovril. Ada, Jamie and Susan go through
many big changes because of their growing relationship as the war goes on (even
though Ada keeps feeling like she doesn’t deserve the happiness and feels this
will only be temporary). Though slowly, Ada starts to flourish; she learns to
read and write and even can walk, thanks to crutches. She even finds out that
the doctor can fix her foot, though not all the way (she also learns that her
leg could have been fixed as a baby) but they would need her mom’s
permission. Ada comes to realize that
she can have value despite her foot. Even though they hadn’t realized it yet,
Susan, Ada, and Jamie had become a family. But then one day their mother came
and demanded they come back home, though they had become different children by
then and even looked different. Their mother tried to make everything go back
to the awful normal from before, but Ada was stronger this time and stood up to
her mother. It made her sad to find out her mother never really wanted her and Jamie,
but they knew that Susan cared for them. In the end, Susan and the children are
reunited again, but come to find that Susan’s house had been bombed while they
were gone. Even with this they were just happy to be together and were surrounded
by their neighbors who they loved. By the end, both Ada and Susan believed that,
despite the war, they had saved each other’s lives and they both felt loved.
I believe I could use this book in the
classroom because it can be an opener to many challenging topics including
abuse, PTSD, World War 2 and more. This also is a great book for individual
reading time if the student is interested in historical fiction stories.
I believe the appropriate grade level for
this book would be 4th-7th grade. I believe this book has some pretty dark
themes and topics in it, which is why I recommend it for older grades so that
the student will fully understand the book. This book has very short chapters
and was easy to read and follow. This book also featured big text which makes
it easier to read. I like how this book formats the ends of its chapters; it
usually ends on a hook line, even if sudden, that makes you want to read the
next chapter.
This book could be used as a read aloud
or maybe even a small book club when learning about World War 2 and its effect
on people’s lives; because throughout the book it does give examples of some
things that changed during war times such as food rationing, identity cards,
victory gardens and more. Then the student will do a reflection, after reading
the book, on what they learned about the war from this book.
HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy
