The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Bradley (Puffin Books, $8.99PB, 352pp, 2016, ages 9-11, grades 4-7) A Newbery Honor book. Review by Skye Anderson
Another Pollyanna or Perhaps Anne?
It is WW2 and British children in London are being sent to the countryside for safekeeping, from the expected Nazi bombs. Written from the viewpoint of a pre-teen girl who escapes (with her younger brother) from a difficult home situation and 'mistakenly' is sent to temporarily live with a single woman caretaker in Kent, The War that Save My Life is just what we like - fairly large print with short chapters, cliffhangers, and a little bit of England and history. It will remind you of Pollyanna or Anne of Green Gables: our Ada, though, is a real character who grows to love and to be loved in the midst of troubling times.
Intriguing Title and Front Cover
We found this book so incredibly good we wanted it to last forever yet also found it to be a 24-hour book - one we couldn't put down. We heartedly recommend Newbery books!
Ada is a mature young girl whose disability embarrasses her mother who takes it out on her. Ada is a young girl who believes she doesn't deserve love or good things (she has listened to her mother and taken her words to heart). Ada is a girl who stays inside and takes care of her little brother.
Then comes the evacuation which also serves as an escape. But upon arriving in the countryside, nobody wants to take in the two youngsters so they are put up with a single woman who seems crusty at first but who understands 10-year-old Ada's fear of becoming too close as time goes by. Time, and horses, and a military airfield.
Horses and Heroes
Ada becomes a hero but discussions of the book will also reveal other heroes. The reader will read voraciously and come to see Ada's fears in people they meet and live with at times. We are all afraid of becoming too close, but hopes and dreams do not die.
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