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The War that Saved my Life

  Summary of Book: The war that Saved my Life was written by, Kimberly Bradley . The genre is historical fiction. The story follows Ada Smith as she and her younger brother are evacuated out of London during World War II. Ada is 10 years old, abused by her Mam, and has a club foot which her mother uses against her and refuses to let her go to school or leave their flat or anything. Ada escapes the flat one day with Jamie and gets on the train with the other children that are leaving London to go to surrounding country houses. They are placed with Susan Smith who professes she is not able to look after them. However, the children begin to flourish under her care and are well taken after. Ada learns how to ride a horse called Buttercup, learns how to read from a new friend, discovers a Nazi spy, and learns that she doesn't always have to be the protector of her  brother. After some time, the kids mom returns and wants her children back so she no longer has to pay for them out in the country. They return to London and immediately are back to being abused and realize they cannot stay there. One day, London is bombed while Ada's mom is away and they barely escape. Through the rubble, they see Susan searching for them. She realized that she could not leave them and they go back to her house in the village. When they return they find that her house was bombed and if she had stayed and not gone to get the children that she would be dead. They all realize that they saved each other in the end

Why you would/would not use this book in your classroom? I would use this book in my classroom because it gives an accurate look into the struggles and life of the people during that time. It would provide my students with more of a background into what children went through as well.  


Appropriate age group for this book: 9-12

Ideas for unit of study to include this book or how you might use this book in the classroom: This book would be a really great one to have students read while going over World War II in a Social Studies class. 

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