October Grades 5-6 Book Club: The War That Saved My Life

For October's Book Club, we read the book The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Christopher, Cooper, Mark, Rileigh, and Sarah were present. This is what we discussed, with suggestions from teentweenbooks.com and from a book club on this book 4 years ago!

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

-Ada is the main character of the book

-Mom is ashamed of her because she's crippled

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

-She looks out the window

-She teaches herself to walk

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

-Jamie is supposed to go on the train and Ada refuses to left behind

-They took their mom's sugar, bread and butter, and shoes

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

-They are so dirty that no one wants them

-They also don't want to deal with Ada's foot

-Because no one would take them in and she hadn't taken any kids in

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?

-In the beginning, she doesn't want to have to take care of the kids

-She was still sad about Becky's death

-At the end of the book, Susan changed her mind about the kids

   

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

-Ada gets very upset sometimes

-Ada doesn't feel that she deserves good things because of the way that her mom treated her

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

-Her dad would get mad at her because she wasn't religious and her dad was a preacher

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?

-Her foot would always stay crooked 

-Susan was temporary because Ada would have to go back 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 isn't able to learn

-She hadn't learned before and thought maybe she couldn't

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?

-She has never had Christmas before

-She has never been truly happy before

-She doesn't think that she deserves to be happy

-Doing nothing for Christmas was the norm

 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?

-She was having to pay for their "child care" and didn't want to.

-Mam didn't want Ada and Jamie to be living better than her

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

-Susan doesn't make Ada go in the cockroach cupboard

-Mam abuses Ada.
-Susan loves Ada.

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

-If there was no war, there wouldn't have been a bombing to send her and Jamie to Susan

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

-When she came to get them back (and was out of her house), her house got bombed. If she had been home, she would have died.

-They brought joy and family into her life. Christmas was actually happy for her.

17. What are your favorite details of the story?

-I liked Jamie because he was funny

-I liked Butter because I like horses

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

-It was too confusing because of all of the bombing

-The story is left up in the air


Rank this book from 1-5.

-(1) 3

-(3) 4

-(1) 5

Our next Book Club will be held on Wednesday, November 18 at 4:00 p.m. We will be meeting via Zoom. We will be reading  The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. 

"When Ada’s clubfoot is surgically fixed at last, she knows for certain that she’s not what her mother said she was—damaged, deranged, crippled mentally as well as physically. She’s not a daughter anymore, either. Who is she now?
 
World War II rages on, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, move with their guardian, Susan, into a cottage with the iron-faced Lady Thorton and her daughter, Maggie. Life in the crowded home is tense. Then Ruth moves in. Ruth, a Jewish girl, from Germany. A German? Could Ruth be a spy?

As the fallout from war intensifies, calamity creeps closer, and life during wartime grows even more complicated. Who will Ada decide to be? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?"

Please be sure to pick up your copy of the book and register at the Circulation Desk so that Miss Lisa can send you the Zoom link and password the day of Book Club!