The War that Saved My Life was published in 2015 by Dial Books for Young Readers. It won a Newbery Honor in 2016. It is the author’s, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, first Newbery Honor book. The author has been writing her whole life, and she has always had a love for it. Her most recent book, The War that Saved My Life,  is one of many realistic fiction books written by the author.

The War that Saved My Life is about Ada, a ten year-old girl, and her six year-old brother, Jamie, who have a reckless, mean mother they call “mam.” The story takes place in England during World War II. When the German army started to bomb London, many of the children who lived in London were evacuated to Kent for safety. Ada and Jamie are very dirty and scrawny compared to the other evacuees, and they watched all the hundreds of children be taken away to new homes until they were the only ones left. Unfortunately, they were sent to Susan Smith, who reluctantly took care of them. Susan Smith didn’t want any more children.

While living with Susan Smith, Ada and Jamie developed a strong relationship with her.  They were really starting to like her and her house because for the first time, they were happy. Their happiness ended abruptly the day the bombs hit Kent. The alarms went off and they had to get to a safe place. Their safe place was an air-raid shelter which reminded Ada of the “cabinet” back at her house in London. When Ada did something her mom didn’t like, Ada was put into a dark, small cabinet crawling with insects. Will Ada and Jamie return to London? Or will they stay with Ms. Susan? Read The War that Saved My Life to find out!