The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

“Yes, that’s her public face. In private she sort of slumps, and everything
about her goes slow and dull. I didn’t know she’d gotten like this. When she
writes me letters they come from her public side.”
Jonathan had finished his pilot’s training, Maggie said. He had been sent to
Stratford RAF base, which was north of London somewhere. “Mum can’t get
past it,” she said. “Her brothers died in World War I. All three of them.
Pilots.”
I shuddered. “Maybe Jonathan should have gone into infantry.”
“That’s what Dad said, but Jonathan’s like my uncles were, dead keen on
flying. He always wanted to, even before the war. Mum told him she
absolutely forbade it, but he signed up anyway. He was twenty – one, so she
couldn’t stop him.
“If he dies, Mum will die too,” Maggie said. “She had two other boys after
Jonathan, before me. All of them, all three, were named after my dead uncles,
and then the other two died of typhoid when they were very small. Then came
me, a girl, therefore useless. Mum’s been afraid of this war since the day
Jonathan was born.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” I said. “I’ll write you if your mam—your mum—
gets worse. If I can tell she’s worse.”
Maggie nodded gratefully. “You don’t know what it’s like, being away
from home and being so afraid.” Then she gave me one of our long serious
looks. “Or maybe you do.”
“It’s not really my birthday,” I said, on the morning of my Celebration Tea.
“No,” Susan agreed.
“I’m not really eleven yet. Or maybe I’m already eleven.” If I thought
about it, this made me angry, so I mostly didn’t think about it.
“Those are the two choices,” Susan agreed.
“I could be fourteen.”
“Doubt it,” Susan replied. “You’d probably have a bit of a bust if you
were.”
This made Jamie snort milk up his nose. I laughed too, and then I started to
enjoy the day.
Susan had put a cloth on the kitchen table, and wildflowers Jamie picked in
a vase in the center. She had saved up enough sugar from our rations to make
a little cake. We had meat paste sandwiches, cut very thin, and fresh radishes,