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| BiP staff review by Lucinda |
The War That Saved My life
by Kimberley Brubaker BradleyMay 2016 | $16.99 pb
An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds, set during World War Two. This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity — a classic in the making.
Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room London flat. Her working-class mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside, knows no better than to treat Ada as, in her own words, a cripple. Ada’s younger brother Jamie returns from school one afternoon with devastating news: the children of London are being shipped out of the city to escape the war. Ada – bereft at the thought of life without Jamie – does not waste a minute. She must make herself walk so she can sneak out to join him. So begins a new adventure for Ada, a blank slate on which she can write a new life for them both. Miss Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take in the two children, embarks on an adventure of her own when they are delivered to her door. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read and write, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
Books set during the evacuation of children during WWII rank among my favourite, notably C.S. Lewis’The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (I always loved the bits set outside of the wardrobe best) and Michelle Magorian’s beautiful, heart-breaking (then heart-warming) Goodnight Mister Tom. There is an evergreen something about the notion of exploring the English countryside without parents that authors and children relate to well, and while The War That Saved My Life doesn’t cover new territory, it is moving, beautifully-written and, ultimately, triumphant. Ada is a determined little girl, one whose life is irrevocably changed, as the title promises, by WWII.
Shortlisted for the Newberry Medal this year, The War That Saved My Life will appeal to good readers of nine and up who will be rooting for Ada all the way through.
Highly recommended for readers 9-13
