The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brusker Bradley

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Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Dial Books
Pages: 316
My rating: 4.5
Ages: 13+

With threat of the war coming to Britain, Ada and Jamie join other children leaving London for the country. Ada had never left their apartment, her mother too ashamed of having a cripple for a daughter, so the world outside is full of surprises. Though living with Susan is difficult, Ada begins to grow and change. But the war threatens more than just Britain; it's threatening the life Ada has started to accept.

I loved this book so much I couldn't stop reading it. When I came to the end of the chapter, I just wanted to keep reading, even though I knew I had to do things like take a shower and get ready for the day. This is one of those books that you start reading one night and finish the next morning because you need to, because the characters need you to finish their story so that they can get to the end and make sure it ends well.

I was so involved in Ada's story, in Jamie and Susan--horrified and over joyed at different times, sad and scared at others. I had never thought about what it would be like to see trees for the first time or to not know how to write or walk. It amazed me that in the 1930s, there was still someone who hadn't ever used a bathtub, or flushed a toilet. Mostly, I found it interesting to see the war through the eyes of an English girl who was basically new to the world.

The writing is simple but interesting, showing the effects of abuse on someone and how they react to everyone around them.

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