Her little brother Jamie is allowed to attend the local school. Her mother is too humliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. The book focuses on a young girl named Ada who has never left her one room apartment. This is a Newberry Honor book as well as the winner of the Schneider Family Book Award. I also am fascinated at the time period of World War 2 and the children of the war who were evacuated from London to the countryside. Last year, I read her book, Jefferson’s Sons and was impressed. I love historical fiction, especially for young adults (I’m young at heart, right?). I checked out The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley a few weeks ago to read for myself. I once heard a friend say about her homeschool that if she taught her children to read, she opened the world to them. It is my hope to promote a culture of literacy and a love of reading in our home. I read to them, we listen to audio books, they read on their own. What I am able to do is curate books, take my children to the library, max out our cards, and allow for blocks of time in the day to settle in and read. Books can expose them to things in a way that I am just not able to do. Books can take my children where I cannot… to another time and another place. Smith’s house gets bombed-for the purposes of the movie, all the story-threads can be wrapped up in the countryside.Enter books. It was a canny choice to leave off the third act when the kids go back to London and Ms. The voiceover kept the story on track, and it was cleverly supplemented by the images and actions onscreen. It was really resourceful to include a real pony and use stock footage to show her riding. When we see her struggling to walk, we really feel for her, and that kind of purely visual storytelling is so much more powerful than any mere line one could write or act.

The cinematography was crisp and assured, with well-framed shots and brisk editing … I was particularly impressed by the composition of the shot when Ada sees the German spy! I’m glad that this movie took the time to show Ada’s difficulty with her foot, which is such a huge part of the story.

Judges’ Remarks: Wow! Amazing! I loved how thoroughly and carefully this movie recreates the time and place of the book, from the English accents to the period-appropriate costumes and sets (the black-and-white filter helps make it feel “historical” too, and I like how it blossomed into color at the end). The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker BradleyĪdapted by Merrik, Canon, Lauder and Aldrin Moriarty of The Moriarty Academy (2018)

The war that finally won