the war that saved my life by kimberly brubaker bradley

Ada sees a pony on the side of the house and decides this is where they need to live. She is mourning the loss of her best friend, Becky, who died a few years earlier. Susan lives alone in a large house but doesn’t want the children. Lady Thornton, the head of the Women’s Volunteer Service, takes the two to Susan Smith. Ada and Jamie are the most unkempt of the children, and no family chooses to take them.

A train takes them to the countryside where host families choose the evacuated children. She says Ada can’t go because no one would want her.Īda and Jamie sneak out while their mother is sleeping and join the evacuees. Mam says she will likely let Jamie go because it will mean one less mouth to feed. Jamie learns that the children in London are going to be evacuated to the country in case the city is bombed. She realizes that Jamie will be starting soon, so she secretly teaches herself to walk because she can’t bear the thought of being alone with Mam.

Ada goes away in her head to a happy place in order to deal with the terror she feels. Mam locks Ada in a tiny cabinet overnight, with the roaches. Jamie gets caught stealing food from a butcher, and he tells Mam it was for Ada. Although Ada was born with the clubfoot, her mother says it is her own fault. Ada is forced to stay indoors, but Mam says Jamie can go where he wants because he is normal. Mam calls her a monster, a disgrace and a cripple. She has been taking care of Jamie since he was a baby because her mother works nights and sleeps during the day.Īda’s mother (Mam) hits and verbally abuses Ada. Ada has a clubfoot and is unable to walk so she crawls to get around. Ada Smith is 10 years old and has never left the one room apartment where she lives with her abusive mother and 6-year-old brother, Jamie.

The war that saved my life by kimberly brubaker bradley