Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Awards: Newbery Honor (2016), Parents' Choice Book Award (2015), New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award Nominee (2016), New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing (2015), Schneider Family Book Award (Middle Grades, 2016), Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year (2016), ALA Notable Children's Book (2016), CCBC Choices (2016), Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Children and Teens (2016), A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2015), IRA Teachers' Choices Reading List (2016), NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People (2016), IBBY Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities (2017)
Grade(s): 4-6
Summary: A War That Saved My Life is a story set in the 1900's of a girl named Ada Smith who has a younger brother named Jamie Smith. During the first part of the book, Ada was heavily and gruesomely abused by her mother, Mam, who hated Ada because she had a clubfoot. Ada's mother consistently put her down and ridiculed her because of her foot, often calling her "rubbish." Ada was kept inside in a one room apartment and was strictly forbidden to leave. Mam did not want anyone to see her or her "nasty foot." On the other hand, Jamie was not abused, but was also not very well taken care of. The family was quite poor. Ada often took care of Jamie because their mother worked and did not have time. The story starts off at the start of World War II where it was known that Hitler was going to invade. Many children were evacuated out of London into the outskirts of England because of the fear of Germany's bombing. Mam certainly planned to send Jamie away, but had every intention of keeping Ada at home, telling her that no one would want to take care of her. However, Ada planned an escape with her brother and the two of them evacuated together. When all of the children arrived at the train's destination, they were lined up to be "picked out" by the families taking in evacuees. Sadly, Ada and Jamie were left unpicked. The woman who was organizing all of the evacuations in this part took the children with her and told them she would find a place for them. She drove the children to Ms. Susan Smith's house, who heavily protested bringing in evacuees and stating, "I don't know how to take care of children." Needless to say, Ada and Jamie were left with Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith was well off and lived in her best friend, Becky's, house. She showed Ada and Jamie how to bathe and began keeping them well groomed with new clothes and plenty of food to eat. During their stay at Ms. Smith's house, Ada fell in love with riding and taking care of horses and Jamie fell in love with planes. Despite Ms. Smith's original protests, she ended up falling in love with the children, and they her. She protected them and took care of them throughout the war. One day, Mam came to collect her children as she was being asked to pay 19 shillings a week to have them taken care of. Ada insisted that she did not take them away from Ms. Smith, but she did anyway. Upon returning home, Ada quickly used her strength and all that she had learned from living with Susan and stood up to Mam for the first time. Mam finally admitted that she never wanted children, but that their father did. She admitted that she didn't love them. Through a broken heart, Ada promised her mother that she would not have to pay for them to live with Susan and that Mam would never have to hear from them again. When Mam was happy with this, the children escaped. They found Susan in London where she had come to look for them. They all returned home happily together to find that their home had been bombed. Although they were horrified, they were happy to be together with not only each other, but also all of their "family" from their town.
My Thoughts: This book is beautifully written and absolutely riveting. It shows the impact that abuse has on a child and the kind of strength it takes them to overcome it. Ada's perseverance through not only her abusive mother, but also her disability, has the potential to inspire a lot of children and teach them to never give up. These children go through so much during a world war, but they come out even stronger. This book shows the importance of family and love in a child's life and how important it is for them to learn. I would absolutely recommend this book to my students, my colleagues, my friends, my family, ANYONE!! I LOVE this book and like many others, it will remain in my library for many years to come.
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