The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

kind of him to mention my dress instead of my bad foot. I told myself that,
over and over, and kept still.
When they left, Susan sat me on the sofa beside her. “That was hard for
you,” she said. I nodded. She pulled me against her, tight, the way she had the
night before except that I wasn’t screaming. “Put the radio on, Jamie,” she
said. “Ada, let’s see to your foot.” I sighed and arranged myself on the sofa,
my bad foot in her lap. She pulled off my stocking and started rubbing and
twisting it, the way she did every night. We were, she said, making a very
small bit of progress.
“Where’s our book?” Jamie said, and went to fetch it. We were halfway
through reading Swiss Family Robinson for the second time. I understood the
story better now, but I still didn’t like it. The family landed on the perfect
island, where everything they needed was right in front of them. Susan
pointed out that they had to work together to put the good things to use. Jamie
just liked the adventures.
“Not that,” I said. “Read mine.” I made Jamie fetch Alice in Wonderland.
Between Alice’s hair ribbon and the word wonderland, I doubted I’d like it,
but it was better than more Family Robinson.
It was better. Alice chased after a rabbit who was wearing clothes and a
pocket watch. He went down his hole just like the rabbits I saw when I was
out on Butter, but she went after him, and fell into a place she didn’t belong, a
place where absolutely nothing made sense to her.
It was us, I thought. Jamie and me. We had fallen down a rabbit hole,
fallen into Susan’s house, and nothing made sense, not at all, not anymore.