The War That Saved My Life

Title: The War That Saved My Life
Genre: Newbery
Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Major Awards: Newbery Honor
Age Group: 5th-8th grade

This is the story of siblings Ada and Jamie and their experience during World War II. Ada was born with a clubfoot, and was basically useless in the eyes of her mother. She was not allowed to go to school or outside of their apartment her whole life because her mother was ashamed of having a daughter with an "ugly foot." Her mother (Mam) malnourished her, locked her in cabinets, and verbally and physically abused her because of her foot. Her brother, Jamie, on the other hand could do no wrong. He went to school, was allowed to play with friends, and he lived a more normal childhood. One day, word got out that children were being sent away from London, where Ada and Jamie lived, because of a possible invasion by Hitler. Jamie would leave, but Mam said that Ada would be stuck at home, bombs or not, because nobody would want her. This pushed Ada to learn to walk so she, too, could escape. The day came for the children to depart, and Ada and Jamie realized how poor they were compared to other children. They were dirty, smelly, and took nothing with them but the clothes on their back. They were the last two children to be picked to be sent to a new family, and arrived at the house of their new caretaker, Miss Smith. At first, Miss Smith was not pleased with this, and stated that she never wanted children in the first place. This turns out to be a huge blessing for Ada and Jamie, though. Miss Smith accepts that they are her responsibility and feeds them, bathes them, and provides them with the love and care they so desperately needed. Jamie starts school, but Ada is unable to because of her foot. Though disappointing, Ada fills her days with other things. She falls in love with Miss Smith's horse, Butter, and she teaches herself to ride. She also teaches herself to read, write, and sew. Things seem to finally be looking up for the two children when their Mam arrives at Miss Smith's house one day to take them home. She explains that she does not even want to take them home, but she has been having to pay for them to be gone. Reluctantly, the children go with their Mam because they are afraid of what she may do to them if they do not go with her. She allows the children to take nothing back to London, and they do not even get to say a proper goodbye to Miss Smith. Upon arriving back at London, Mam treats her children worse than ever before, especially Ada. Finally, Ada gains the courage to tell her Mam off. She says that she knows her mother does not love them, and that she could arrange for them to go away forever without her having to pay. This delights Mam, and Ada and Jamie decide to leave. As they leave, a bomb hits London, sending the children to a shelter. Upon leaving the shelter, they run into Miss Smith: she came back for them! When they get back to Miss Smith's home, they see that a bomb has hit her house, and neighbors are walking around it. The neighbors explained that they thought Miss Smith and the two children were dead inside, and were so happy to see them alive and well. In the end, Miss Smith tells the children that they saved her life, but in reality, Ada says that she saved theirs.

I absolutely loved this story, and most definitely would want it in my classroom if I were to teach older elementary students! I will admit, there are some parts of the book that were very painful to read, but overall, it was phenomenal. Though sad at times, it is such a wonderful story about persevering through tough times, because good things can and will come from it. It gives a first-hand experience for how life was for evacuated children during World War II, and I think much can be learned from it! 

This would be most appropriate for fifth through eighth grade students, in my opinion. It is definitely a more mature topic being discussed in the story, and I think that by fifth grade, students could handle it. This is also a time when children are starting to learn about wars, and I think that this story would totally engage and interest them. It is a longer story with some harsh scenes in it, so I think that should be kept in mind when deciding to hand it to students or not. 

In my classroom, the students could do a research project on World War II to help them better understand how life was during this time. We could also discuss the importance of having someone in our life who we trust, and I could even have the students write a letter to that person thanking them for being such a light in their life. There are a ton of worksheets out there, as well, that I could give my students. These include character analysis worksheets, main idea worksheets, and worksheets with important vocabulary terms from the book.