"The War That Saved My Life"

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Awards: 2016 Newbery Honor Book
Ages: 5th Grade-
9th Grade

Pineapple Points: 5/5
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Summary:
Set during the second world war, a young girl, Ada, with a club foot is abused by her 'humiliated' mother and cut off from the world outside the family flat. Her mother is very abusive to Ada and never lets her have any interactions with anyone but her younger, more privileged but still deprived. brother, Jamie. Jamie is allowed to attend school and, at the news of a possible world war, tells Ada about the school evacuating their students to live with families away from the nearing battlefront in London. Ada secretly teaches herself to walk, after being smacked around by her mother, and one night and devises a plan to leave. Ada and Jamie are forced upon Susan Smith, a calloused woman with depression. During their stay at their surrogate home, they are well-loved and taken care of for the first time. They are now educated, healthy, understanding of compassion and self-worth, and given opportunities they would never have gotten if the war hadn't saved their lives.

Evaluation:
I admit it. I cried like a baby. I LOVED this book. The new perspective during a highly used historical event, World War II, was so alluring to me. Ada is a beautiful character and the author did an amazing job to giving these characters depth and depicting the way that an abused child or depressed single woman would act. It wasn't a fairly tale where things just magically worked out so easily. There was struggle and bouts of emotional effects due to the characters' mental and physical illnesses.  I would love to give promote this book to any middle schooler, young adult, educator, and even adult. It is a easy read with not so easy subject matter that just pulls at your heart stings. Pineapple girl approved.