You know those books that you hold in your hands for a few minutes after you've finished them because you're grateful to have lived in them for a while?The War That Saved My Life is one of those.
Ten-year-old Ada’s cruel, abusive mother has never let her out of their squalid London apartment because she is ashamed of Ada’s disability. When World War II threatens their city, flinty Ada and her little brother, Jamie, escape to the countryside. But no one wants to take them in, and they’re forced into the care of a woman who is fighting her own interior battle.
This inspiring middle-grade novel has its eyes wide open to the hardships of war—both physical and emotional—but its heart is open equally wide. If The War That Saved My Life doesn’t win the 2016 Newbery Award, something will have gone terribly awry. (Dial Books)
About the Author
Sandy Swartzentruber serves as the resource coordinator for Faith Formation Ministries and is a member of Sherman Street CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.
