Skip to main content

The War I Finally Won

Image
By


The War I Finally Won 
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2017. 385 p.

I loved The War that Saved My Life! (It was the Odyssey Award Winner for the year that I was on the Odyssey Award Committee. So I got to know that book very well.) So I was excited, yet a little apprehensive when I heard that this next book was coming out. Would I like it as much? Would it live up to the expectations and glory of the first book? How would it fair?

In this sequel, Ada’s clubfoot has been fixed. She is living with Miss Smith and her brother—yet the war is still going strong. Lady Thorton allows the family to move into a cottage on her estate, though Lady Thorton moves in with them when the government needs to use her house for the war effort. And not only that, but a German Jewish girl named Ruth has come to stay with them, which causes Ada to have to sort through feelings of if she trusts Ruth or not (she is a German…and Germans are who they are fighting—though Ruth had to flee Germany since she is Jewish).

There is so much in this book, and it is all handled so well. Ada is often frustrated and angry and confused (this book shows yet again just how much she doesn’t know due to her unfortunate upbringing). Yet, there is also kindness, love, and acceptance. Mostly, there is a girl who is trying to overcome her particular challenges while her life (and the world) is in a bit of chaos. This is a good sequel. One that will stick with me for a long while yet.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

By
If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.
Post a Comment
Read more

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

By loo
Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more