I also loved the cat character and the pony character. I was worried for a while that I wouldn’t like the way the pony was treated, but it ended up okay for me. (Even though I’m an outlier and like it when dogs and cats and horses are treated as friends and not used in any way. Of course here, riding the pony was not for financial gain at all. As far as other owners & horses included in the story, they’re not a main part of the plot, and I was also very aware of the sensibilities of this time and place.) Students can create a digital timeline or a poster timeline with pictures and captions to record major historical events. They can also record important fictional events as well. Students can visually discern how the author wove the fiction with the historical happenings. By adding pictures to the timeline, students are able to better understand the history behind the novel. This in turn helps them better comprehend their reading. Aged Letters In lesser hands than those of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, the plot might tumble into cliché, but thanks to Ada's unforgettable character and unflinching voice, you're too busy cheering her on. . . . Artfully woven." —Common Sense Media Ada is ten and as far as she can tell she’s never been outdoors. Never felt the sun on her face. Never seen grass. Born with a twisted foot her mother considers her an abomination and her own personal shame. So when the chance comes for Ada to join her fellow child evacuees, including her little brother Jamie, out of the city during WWII she leaps at the chance. Escaping to the English countryside, the two are foisted upon a woman named Susan who declares herself to be “not nice” from the start. Under her care the siblings grow and change. Ada discovers Susan’s pony and is determined from the get-go to ride it. And as the war progresses and things grow dire, she finds that the most dangerous thing isn’t the bombs or the war itself. It’s hope. And it’s got her number.

Children are starting to be sent away to live in the countryside temporarily to keep them safe. Jamie is going, but Ada's mom says she won't be going because no one would want her... that nice people wouldn't want to look at her foot. I love when Ada responds, "I could stay with nasty people.... wouldn't be any different than living here." What a spunky, brave, and awesome little girl! I absolutely love her character. Jamie and Ada decide to leave together the very next day.Susan Smith, an unrelated woman who lives in a coastal village in Kent, is forced to take Ada and Jamie in, despite her aversion to caring for children. Away from her mother, Ada is allowed to freely move about by Susan despite her clubfoot, and as such befriends Susan and other villagers. She learns to read, write, ride a horse, and is introduced by Susan to many terms and concepts she has never experienced before. Susan overcomes her reluctance to take care of the children, reading to them, making them clothes, obtaining crutches for Ada, and allowing Jamie to keep a cat she intensely dislikes. Ada helps British troops evacuate across the English Channel from Dunkirk, and identifies an enemy spy, who is then detained. Achingly lovely . . . Nuanced and emotionally acute, this vivid tale from the wartime home front will have readers ages 10-14 wincing at Ada’s stumbles and rejoicing to the point of tears in her victories.”— The Wall Street Journal

The home-front realities of WWII, as well as Ada’s realistic anger and fear, come to life in Bradley’s affecting and austerely told story, and readers will cheer for steadfast Ada as she triumphs over despair." — Booklist Best Children's Books of the Year Archive". Bank Street College of Education . Retrieved 2022-07-08. All the kids are lined up at the train station in a sort of orphan train adoption process. No one wants them, but they are finally whisked away to stay with Susan Smith. She doesn't particularly want them either, but it's just that she doesn't know what to do with them. Ada keeps reminding herself that Susan isn't nice, but she actually is very nice. She allows Ada to go outside and be a normal kid. They have plenty to eat, clothed well, and loved like they never knew was possible. And from there her adventure begins! Ada learns to walk, learns how to read, and learns how to ride a pony she falls in love with. Her growth is so heartwarming! Ada’s transformation from an angry young woman into a confident lady is imaginatively drawn.’ Australian Women’s Weekly

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Listen to the Award-Winning Audiobook: Experience Ada, Jamie, Susan, and their incredible story in a whole new way by listening to the audiobook. Winner of the 2016 Odyssey Award, and read by award-winning narrator Jayne Entwistle, this wonderful telling captures and amplifies the novel’s unforgettable characters, momentous events, and emotional depths. Author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley said of the audio: “I could not have been more pleased about Jayne Entwistle’s version of The War That Saved My Life. She got every nuance exactly right — Ada’s grit, Jamie’s innocence, Lady Thorton’s upper-crust accent, Susan’s cultivated Oxbridge one.” Without giving away too much of the plot this book follows the siblings lives and gives a good look into World War II and lives of evacuees. We loved the characters in this book, Ada was wonderful, so brave, tenacious and funny. The relationship between Ada and her brother was wonderful, we even loved their squabbles, there were some really humorous descriptions of these. Those who love horses will enjoy the descriptions of Ada's first experiences with a pony called Butter. We loved the way that in the time the book was set you could just have a go or help out at stables in return for riding which is what was possible when I was young but sadly not today. There are some wonderful animal characters and we loved the unusual friendships and the way that the hardships of the war brought people who previously wouldn't have mixed together. Susan was a wonderful character and a natural mother to the motherless. The description of the bright yellow pony is used to represent hope and the possibility of a new life. The young protagonist, who has been living in a difficult home situation and facing many hardships, is instantly taken with the pony and feels a sense of wonder and awe. The imagery of the pony—with its white stripe down its nose and dark brown eyes—is vivid and inviting, and the sound it makes is also evocative and conveys a sense of warmth and comfort. The juxtaposition of the dull house with the bright and lively pony suggests that the protagonist is about to embark on a journey of discovery and hope and that the pony will be a part of that journey. The imagery of the pony, then, highlights the idea that despite all the difficulties the protagonist has faced, there is still the potential for joy and a brighter future. Battle of Dunkirk

This book was amazing. It really shows the difference between poverty and regular living. This book shows that in the darkest of times there is still a way to be saved.” –Amanda, age 11 Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room flat. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. This is a fine book for ages 9 and all the way up. It does get intense at times around issues of war and child abuse, issues of abandonment and neglect, but I think it manages to stay a solid middle grade novel that can also be enjoyed by adults and teens. The two main children go from age 10 to 11 and from age 6 to 7.It’s About: Set in England during World War II, this is the emotionally charged story of Ada, a 9-year-old with a clubfoot who has been made to feel that she is unworthy of love and a normal life by her own mother. When she flees London, and the coming bombing raids, with her younger brother, Jamie, and the other poor city kids who are being sent to live with families in the countryside, she gets a taste of freedom she has never experienced. Living with her benefactor, Miss Smith, Ada realizes she has more value and potential than she was led to believe in her old life. Historical wartime events and facts are beautifully woven throughout this heartfelt story of transformation and redemption. While still reading, I reserved the sequel and intend to read it soon. I was emotionally invested in this story and its many characters. An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds set during World War 2, from the acclaimed author of Jefferson’s Sons and for fans of Number the Stars. There is much to like here—Ada's engaging voice, the vivid setting, the humor, the heartbreak, but most of all the tenacious will to survive." — School Library Journal The imagery of the horse wheeling in fright and leaping over the stone wall is a powerful image. It expresses the intensity of the situation and the fear of the horse and rider. The horse is described as a "big brown one," which conjures a physical sense of the horse's size and strength. The rider is also described as struggling to control the horse and being thrown off when the horse jumps over the wall. This image of the horse jumping off the road and over the wall conveys a sense of chaos and danger. It also foreshadows the danger that the protagonist will face later in the story. In addition, the description of the muddy weeds where the rider lands make the scene messy and adds to the tension of the moment. Update this section!

Why was Butter so important to Ada? How did Butter help her learn persistence and confidence? Do you have a pet or a hobby that makes you feel like Ada feels when she rides Butter? Eleven-year-old Ada was born with a clubfoot and her abusive and cruel mother uses it as an excuse to keep her a prisoner in their one room apartment, often in a tiny closet as ‘punishment’ for minor infractions.

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The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, [1] is a 2015 children’s historical novel published by Dial Books for Young Readers. In 2016, it was a Newbery Honor Book [2] and was named to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's Best Books of the Year List with an "Outstanding Merit" distinction and won the Committee's Josette Frank Award for fiction. [3] Plot [ edit ] Achingly lovely…Nuanced and emotionally acute, this vivid tale from the wartime home front will have readers ages 10-14 wincing at Ada’s stumbles and rejoicing to the point of tears in her victories.’ Wall Street Journal Bradley's first novel is set in a small Indiana farming community at the start of World War I, and follows the story of Ruthie, an 8-year-old tomboy who strives to form a stronger sense of self and selflessness during a particularly dramatic year in her life: the year her sixth brother is born, the year she makes her first friends (twin girls), the year she almost dies of pneumonia, the year the war takes one of her brothers from her. . [4] Jefferson's Sons: A Founding Father's Secret Children [ edit ] spoiler* I want to use this book for book club next fall so the following is more detailed than usual so I'll remember my first impressions.