The War That Saved My Life thoughts(:

In the book The War that Saved our Life, we meet our main character, Ada. Ada is a little girl that lives in an abusive home with her little brother Jamie. Ada’s mom treats her very poorly because she crippled and treats her brother Jaime better. She lets Jaime go out to play and go to school. Ada raises Jaime because her mother is never home, she works all night and sleeps all day. Her town soon starts evacuating children to the countryside because Hitler is threatening to bomb them. Ada takes this as her chance to escape the cruel life she is living at home. She had been practicing to walk for a few months and takes her chances with Jaime, leaving their mother behind. When they get to the countryside they are the last children to get picked. In reality, they never get picked but get sent to Miss Smith’s home. Miss Smith is a single woman who is living in a house she inherited by her best friend. She is still filled with sadness over her friend’s passing but does her best to care for the children. At first when she didn’t want to take care of them, but over time she became more loving towards them. She does her best to take care of Ada’s foot and gives them the basic needs, which the children consider luxuries. They have never had so many meals and baths. Ada is enjoying her new found freedom and never wants to go home. Jaime, on the other hand, misses home and wants to go back. Half of the children who escaped to the countryside are returning home even though the bomb danger still prevails. (This is as far as I have gotten)

 

I believe this book wants us to have sympathy for the main character, which she is getting. I feel that it’s a book that can be an outing for a student who is going through a similar situation.  Let me explain that sentence, I feel like there is going to be a few amounts of students that are living in an abusive home and maybe this can push them to speak up about their situation so they can get the help they need. Situations like this can be very difficult for a child, and it’s hard for them to speak against a family member, but if we offer them the help they need they’re going to be better off. This book can also be a great introduction to WWII. The children in your classroom can have an idea of what children of that time were going through and how hard it was for families to separate. They can also see how ignorant people of that time where and can discuss what they would do if they were in that position. Turn it all into an activity