The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Recommendations

Info

if I went downstairs again. That was always her threat to me.My right foot was small and twisted, so that the bottom pointed skyward,all the toes in the air, and what should have been the top touched the ground.The ankle didn’t work right, of course, and it hurt whenever I put weight onit, so for most of my life I never did. I was good at crawling. I didn’t proteststaying in one room so long as it held both Jamie and me. But as Jamie grewolder he wanted to be with the other children, playing in the street. “Whyshouldn’t he?” Mam said. “He’s normal enough.” To Jamie she said, “You’renot like Ada. You can go wherever you like.”“He can’t,” I said. “He has to stay where I can see him.”At first he did, but then he made friends with a gang of boys and wentrunning out of sight all day. He came home with stories about the docks onthe River Thames, where big ships unloaded cargo from around the world. Hetold me about trains, and warehouses bigger than our whole block of flats.He’d seen St. Mary’s, the church by whose bells I marked time. As thesummer days grew longer he stayed out later and later, until he came homehours after Mam left. He was gone all the time, and Mam didn’t care.My room was a prison. I could hardly bear the heat and the quiet and theemptiness.I tried everything to make Jamie stay. I barred the door so he couldn’t getout, but he was already stronger than me. I begged and pleaded with Mam. Ithreatened Jamie, and then one hot day I tied his hands and feet while he wassleeping. I would make him stay with me.Jamie woke up. He didn’t scream or shout. He thrashed once, and then helay helpless, looking at me.Tears slid down his cheeks.I untied him as quickly as I could. I felt like a monster. He had a red markon his wrist from where I’d pulled the string too tight.“I won’t do it again,” I said. “I promise. I’ll never do that again.”Still his tears flowed. I understood. In all my life I’d never hurt Jamie. I’dnever hit him, not once.Now I’d become like Mam.“I’ll stay inside,” he whispered.“No,” I said. “No. You don’t need to. But have some tea before you leave.”I gave him a mug, and a piece of bread and dripping. It was just the two of usthat morning, Mam gone I don’t know where. I patted Jamie’s head, and
kissed the top of it, and sang him a song, and did all I could to make himsmile. “Pretty soon you’ll be going to school anyhow,” I said, astonished thatI hadn’t fully realized this before. “You’ll be gone all day then, but I’ll beokay. I’m going to fix things so I’ll be okay.” I coaxed him into going out toplay, and I waved to him from the window.Then I did what I should have done to start with. I taught myself to walk.If I could walk, maybe Mam wouldn’t be so ashamed of me. Maybe we coulddisguise my crippled foot. Maybe I could leave the room, and stay withJamie, or at least go to him if he needed me.That’s what happened, though not the way I thought it would. In the end itwas the combination of the two, the end of my little war against Jamie, andthe start of the big war, Hitler’s war, that set me free.
Page 4 and 5: DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERSPublish
Page 6 and 7: Chapter TwentyChapter Twenty-oneCha
Page 8 and 9: “Ada! Get back from that window!
Page 12 and 13: I began that very day. I pulled mys
Page 14 and 15: on the street, and then marched him
Page 16 and 17: frightened. I felt grateful, that I
Page 18 and 19: “How much farther?” I asked him
Page 20 and 21: “How’d you get here?”“Walke
Page 22 and 23: The train was miserable, of course.
Page 24 and 25: The day got worse. It was bound to.
Page 26 and 27: didn’t expect so many. We’ve go
Page 28 and 29: It sat at the very end of a quiet d
Page 30 and 31: I shrugged. I had never needed taki
Page 32 and 33: tight. “Interesting,” she said.
Page 34 and 35: In the morning we slept until the s
Page 36 and 37: “I could see they weren’t yours
Page 38 and 39: thing. I’ll write to your mother
Page 40 and 41: Another thing Miss Smith did was ex
Page 42 and 43: home guests. I sat up and clutched
Page 44 and 45: Up until then, that morning, I’d
Page 46 and 47: Finally I said, “Miss? What’re
Page 48 and 49: She stayed in bed even after she fi
Page 50 and 51: especially with the crutches. Maybe
Page 52 and 53: All this time, in secret, I’d bee
Page 54 and 55: the strange food, though the only w
Page 56 and 57: The next time we went into town, we
Page 58 and 59: “No—well, yes,” Miss Smith sa
Page 60 and 61:
“She simply hasn’t been taught,
Page 62 and 63:
rough patches on my skin, and my he
Page 64 and 65:
down with a thump. Her skin went pa
Page 66 and 67:
called her Maggie. “Maggie, hang
Page 68 and 69:
then added, “It’s a clubfoot.
Page 70 and 71:
I told the whole story, except for
Page 72 and 73:
Now Lady Thorton’s face looked st
Page 74 and 75:
When Jamie came home it was obvious
Page 76 and 77:
“Surely there’s a social worker
Page 78 and 79:
Miss Smith sighed. “Ada, can’t
Page 80 and 81:
Huh, I thought. Imagine dressing up
Page 82 and 83:
I guess he did, but I’d never not
Page 84 and 85:
The very next day, before Jamie wen
Page 86 and 87:
Could be a long time, then. I doubt
Page 88 and 89:
She sighed, air coming out her nose
Page 90 and 91:
Butter refused to ever do anything
Page 92 and 93:
flicked an ear at it. To him, plane
Page 94 and 95:
hunting with the war on. But even s
Page 96 and 97:
“Only because Susan made her. She
Page 98 and 99:
The Royal Oak sank.She was a Royal
Page 100 and 101:
I flinched. “Maybe I am now. Mayb
Page 102 and 103:
wouldn’t be lost again. I tied my
Page 104 and 105:
“Oh, the funeral! Bunch of nosy b
Page 106 and 107:
I didn’t mean to. I’d watched S
Page 108 and 109:
“Ada!”Oh no. Ohnoohnoohnoohno.
Page 110 and 111:
Susan tricked me into writing.Jamie
Page 112 and 113:
“Suppose so.” He made me go aro
Page 114 and 115:
Susan took us back to see Dr. Graha
Page 116 and 117:
Susan made Jamie a pair of nice sho
Page 118 and 119:
“Your mam ain’t come for you?
Page 120 and 121:
looked at her, and I said, “Maybe
Page 122 and 123:
like to break tradition. “But tha
Page 124 and 125:
Maggie won, but not by much, and I
Page 126 and 127:
for all of us.”We took the tree i
Page 128 and 129:
“Aye,” Fred said, nodding, as t
Page 130 and 131:
made it for you. Bottle green velve
Page 132 and 133:
I didn’t know what Susan had said
Page 134 and 135:
I shrugged her away. It was too muc
Page 136 and 137:
In January rationing began. It was
Page 138 and 139:
wind blew the wisps of hair around
Page 140 and 141:
“What are you thinking?” she fi
Page 142 and 143:
She couldn’t take care of me. She
Page 144 and 145:
Stephen said there was a new poster
Page 146 and 147:
“Yes, that’s her public face. I
Page 148 and 149:
6) Do not spread rumors.7) Lock awa
Page 150 and 151:
We woke to a vicious pounding on th
Page 152 and 153:
days without food or water.The men
Page 154 and 155:
called for tea. Daisy and I brought
Page 156 and 157:
“. . . things worse than bombs,
Page 158 and 159:
little bit more. She put her arm ar
Page 160 and 161:
blanket. Susan wrapped me in it the
Page 162 and 163:
creased with worry.
Page 164 and 165:
You could get used to anything. Aft
Page 166 and 167:
The man blinked.I said, “I would
Page 168 and 169:
have believed you,” he said. “I
Page 170 and 171:
that evening, while we were still e
Page 172 and 173:
Mam.I didn’t know what to think.
Page 174 and 175:
arm. “I’ll keep it for you, Jam
Page 176 and 177:
worked. “Plus it got me away from
Page 178 and 179:
Jamie said, “What happened? Why
Page 180 and 181:
and he closed his mouth on his word
Page 182 and 183:
“I could get my foot fixed,” I
Page 184 and 185:
flats, rushing down with bedding in
Page 186 and 187:
A restaurant near the train station
Page 188 and 189:
A blur of gray fur streaked out of
show all

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?