December Grades 5-6 Book Discussion: The War That Saved My Life

For December's Book Club, we read the book The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Cadence, Grace and Lily were present. This is what we discussed, with suggestions from teentweenbooks.com.

1. Who is Ada? Why is Mam ashamed of her?  Why do you think Mam "wanted Ada to be a cripple?"

-Mam never wanted kids. 

-She didn't want to spend the money to fix her foot.
-She didn't want Ada to have a good life because of her foot.

2. What does Ada do when she is at home alone? Why doesn’t she share her secret with anyone?

-Learning how to walk. She doesn't tell anyone because her mom will hurt her.
-Mam would take her anger out on Jamie as well.

3. How do Ada and Jamie get out of London in the beginning of the story?

-They go early so that Ada will have time to walk to the station. Jamie learns for the first time that Ada knows how to walk.

4. Why are Ada and Jamie “the only ones not chosen”? Why do they end up at Susan’s?

-Because they are dirty, because of Ada's crippled foot and Ada won't be separated from Jamie.
-They ended up at Susan's because she had no choice.

5. When talking about Susan, Ada said, “She doesn’t like us. She didn’t want us, remember?”  Does Susan like the kids? Why or why not?

-She does. She doesn't like them at the beginning but she learned to love them,
-She ends up practically adopting them because she loves them.
   

6. Susan treats Ada with understanding and compassion. How does Ada respond to this kindness? Why?

-With tears and screaming. I think she's not used to it and she doesn't want it at the time.
-This book was so cringe-y because Susan put up with a lot from the kids. 

 
7. What do you know of Susan? Tell the untold story of Susan’s life as you imagine it might be.

-I think her life was sad because Becky died and she was alone and her dad thought that she couldn't be redeemed. 
-She didn't take care of Butter or leave the house that much.

8. Ada stated, “I knew Susan wasn’t real. Or, if she was a tiny bit real, sometimes, at the very best she was only temporary” (p. 202). Later, on page 216 Ada said, “Susan was temporary. My foot was permanent.” Is Susan temporary for Ada? Why or why not?

-In the middle of the book, Susan was temporary for Ada. Ada and Jamie are evacuees. 
-I think Ada said that Susan was temporary because she thought nothing was real. She thought that after the war was over, she was going to have to go home to Mam.

 

9. What does Jamie's teacher think about his being left-handed?

-The teacher thinks that it's the mark of the devil.

 
10. Is Ada capable of learning? Why is she afraid of learning at the beginning of the story? 

-She thinks she can't learn.
-She is very capable of learning. She thinks she is incapable of learning. 

11.  On page 206 Ada said, “Somehow Christmas was making me feel jumpy inside. All this talk about being together and being happy and celebrating—it felt threatening. Like I shouldn’t be part of it. Like I wasn’t allowed. And Susan wanted me to be happy, which was scarier still.” Why is Ada feeling jumpy, threatened, and scared?

-Because she never had Christmas, her mom has convinced her that she doesn't deserve happiness and shouldn't be around "normal" people.

 12. When the police officer doesn’t believe Ada’s story about seeing a spy, what does she do and say to convince him?

-She sees him looking at her crippled foot and says "my foot is a long way from my brain."

13. Why did their Mam come to take them back to the city?

-Not because she loved them. She was having to pay for their "child care" and didn't want to.

14.  How does the way Mam treat Ada differ from the way Susan treats Ada?

-Mam abuses Ada. And Susan loves her.
-Susan loves Ada. Mam hates her and abuses her.

15. Why do you think Kimberly Brubaker Bradley decided to title the book The War That Saved My Life?

-Because of the war, she was an evacuee, because she was an evacuee, she got placed with Susan and met Butter, and because of Susan, she got happier in her life.

16. In what ways did Susan save Ada’s and Jamie’s lives? How did Ada and Jamie save Susan’s life?

-They opened Susan's eyes and showed her that Becky's death was not the end of the world.
-Susan saved their lives by opening them into her heart and family. She showed them the secret of life.

17. What are your favorite details of the story?

-Butter.
-The part where Maggie's horse and surprises Butter. And then Maggie and Ada met each other.
-I liked that Susan was so nice and caring and perservered even though she didn't want the kids at first.  

 
18.  Do you like the ending? If you were the author, would you change the ending of the story?

-I would make it a happier ending (her house was destroyed and all of her memories were burned away).
-It was a terrible ending in that they got taken away.
-I liked the book but why didn't the mom tell them from the beginning that she didn't want them.


Rank this book from 1-5.

-4
-5
-4, but I would definitely recommend it. Not for kids younger than us.  

Our next Book Club will be held on Wednesday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m. We will be reading Mountain Dog by Margarita Engle. 

"When his mother is sent to jail in Los Angeles, eleven-year-old Tony goes to live with his forest ranger great-uncle in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where Tony experiences unconditional love for the first time through his friendship with a rescue dog."

Please be sure to pick up your copy of the book and register at the Circulation Desk so that Miss Lisa knows how many snacks to buy!

January Grades 5-6 Book Suggestions

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson
When the Berlin Wall went up, Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz are trapped on the eastern side where they were living, while her father, and her other brother Dominic are in the West--four years later, now twelve, Gerta sees her father on a viewing platform on the western side and realizes he wants her to risk her life trying to tunnel to freedom.


Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Lost in the Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica--and decades later three children, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California find themselves caught up in the same thread of destiny in the darkest days of the twentieth century, struggling to keep their families intact, and tied together by the music of the same harmonica. The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart When Reuben discovers an antique watch that was mortared into the wall, he soon learns it has a secret power. As one secret leads to another, Reuben finds himself torn between his innately honest nature and the lure to be a hero. Now he is on a dangerous adventure, and with fearless Penny, mighty Jack, and the wise Mrs. Genevieve on his side, Reuben must outwit and outmaneuver the sly villain called The Smoke and his devious defenders the Directions, in order to save the city from a terrible fate.