{"id":30034,"date":"2016-04-23T23:15:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T03:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30034"},"modified":"2016-04-23T23:15:42","modified_gmt":"2016-04-24T03:15:42","slug":"review-of-the-war-that-saved-my-life-by-kimberly-brubaker-bradley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=30034","title":{"rendered":"Review of The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"war_that_saved_my_life_large\"<\/a>The War that Saved my Life<\/em><\/p>\n

by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
\nread by Jayne Entwistle<\/p>\n

Listening Library, 2015. 7.5 hours on 6 compact discs.
\nStarred Review
\n2016 Newbery Honor Book
\n2016 Odyssey Award Winner
\n2016 Schneider Family Award Winner<\/p>\n

I always try to listen to the Odyssey Award winner, since it is given to the best children\u2019s or young adult audiobook of the year. This year, the winner was also a Newbery Honor book and a Schneider Family Award winner, so I already knew it was something special. First, I got to listen to Echo<\/em>, which was also a Newbery Honor book but the only Odyssey Honor audiobook. It was so good, it was hard to imagine an audiobook being chosen above it.<\/p>\n

Even with that much build-up, when I listened to The War that Saved my Life,<\/em> I was not at all disappointed. This was one of the few audiobooks that, when I got to the last CD, I brought the book into the house to finish listening, rather than wait until the morning and my next trip to work. It was way too good to wait!<\/p>\n

I should say a word about the narrator, Jayne Entwistle. I\u2019ve listened to other books she\u2019s read, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place<\/a><\/em> and >As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust<\/em>. I always enjoy her distinctive voice. Now, I do enjoy almost all English accents, but Jayne Entwistle does an excellent precocious little girl. And she does a fine job making the voices of the various characters distinctive. In this case, she didn\u2019t need to do as many voices as in The Scandalous Sisterhood<\/em>, and she put just the right character into each of the voices she did portray.<\/p>\n

The story in The War that Saved my Life<\/em> is heart-wrenching. The story is told by Ada Smith. She\u2019s got a club foot, though at the beginning of the book, she doesn\u2019t know that\u2019s what it\u2019s called. She only knows that her foot is disgusting, according to her Mam, and she\u2019s not to let anyone see her. She must stay in their one-room apartment in London.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s bearable for Ada when she has her little brother Jamie to watch over. But as Jamie\u2019s getting old enough to go to school, he\u2019s also old enough to start playing outside. Ada\u2019s heart is torn being alone in the apartment. So she decides to teach herself to walk.<\/p>\n

Not long after, they learn that London children are going to be evacuated to the country because bombs will be coming from Hitler. Mam hasn\u2019t decided if she\u2019ll send Jamie. Ada asks about herself.<\/p>\n

Mam still didn\u2019t look at me. \u201cCourse not. They\u2019re sending kids to live with nice people. Who\u2019d want you? Nobody, that\u2019s who. Nice people don\u2019t want to look at that foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could stay with nasty people,\u201d I said. \u201cWouldn\u2019t be any different than living here.\u201d<\/p>\n

I saw the slap coming, but didn\u2019t duck fast enough. \u201cNone of your sass,\u201d she said. Her mouth twisted into the smile that made my insides clench. \u201cYou can\u2019t leave. You never will. You\u2019re stuck here, right here in this room, bombs or no.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All of that happens in the first two chapters.<\/p>\n

But Ada decides then and there that she will leave with Jamie. Her Mam doesn\u2019t know she can walk, and Ada steals Mam\u2019s shoes and sneaks out with Jamie to get there early on the day the children are evacuated.<\/p>\n

Once they\u2019re in the country, Ada and Jamie are indeed the last ones picked. The \u201ciron-faced\u201d woman in charge takes them to the home of Susan Smith. Susan doesn\u2019t want children. She is mourning the loss of her \u201cvery dear friend\u201d Becky, who lived with her and kept horses.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a pony named Butter out in the field, and Ada is fascinated with it. The story that follows shows us clearly how Ada\u2019s life is saved. Susan\u2019s and Jamie\u2019s lives are changed along the way.<\/p>\n

Words can\u2019t adequately describe this book and how brilliantly the story is woven. The two short chapters at the beginning prepare us for how deprived Ada is, but it\u2019s more fully revealed as she comes out of the room and copes with the country.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a bit from their ride on the train:<\/p>\n

The buildings ended and suddenly there was green. Green everywhere. Bright, vibrant, astonishing green, floating into the air toward the blue, blue sky. I stared, mesmerized. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGrass,\u201d Jamie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrass?<\/em>\u201d He knew about this green? There wasn\u2019t any grass on our lane, nor nothing like it that I\u2019d ever seen. I knew green from clothing or cabbages, not from fields.<\/p>\n

Jamie nodded. \u201cIt\u2019s on the ground. Spikey stuff, but soft, not prickly. There\u2019s grass in the churchyard. Round the headstones. And trees, like that over there.\u201d He pointed out the window.<\/p>\n

Trees were tall and thin, like stalks of celery, only giant-sized. Bursts of green on top. \u201cWhen were you in a churchyard?\u201d I asked. What\u2019s a churchyard?<\/em> I might have asked next. There was no end to the things I didn\u2019t know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later on, it seems utterly realistic that, rather than being grateful, Ada gets frustrated and annoyed with all the things Susan tells her, full of words she doesn\u2019t know. When Susan makes a beautiful dress for Ada for Christmas, she has a complete meltdown, unable to feel that something so nice can be for her.<\/p>\n

But most of the book is filled with little victories. Ada learns to use crutches. She learns to care for Butter. She learns how to go among people and makes friends.<\/p>\n

And the backdrop of all this is the war, which does come even to the countryside. And the looming question of what will happen when Ada has to go back?<\/p>\n

This is a beautiful book. Even though I listened to it, I\u2019m going to keep my Advance Reader Copy, because I am going to want to treasure Ada\u2019s story again. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll notice subtle emotional cues I didn\u2019t catch the first time.<\/p>\n

How can I tell children about this wonderful book? I may decide to play up the bombs and spies (Yes, they are both in there). This is ultimately a book about the value found in every person and how love can save your life.<\/p>\n

kimberlybrubakerbradley.com<\/a>
\nlisteninglibrary.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/war_that_saved_my_life.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a>