The War That Saved My Life Plot
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The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
By Liane Hicks
The War That Saved My Life is a historical fiction novel set in England at the outbreak of World War II. However, there is another "war" that the protagonist, 10-year-old Ada Smith, faces: the battle to escape her abusive mother. Engage and educate students with Storyboard That premade activities!
Storyboard Description
Students can summarize and illustrate the plot of the story in a 6 cell storyboard highlighting the exposition and conflict, rising action, climax / turning point, falling action, and resolution.
Storyboard Text
- THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE
- EXPOSITION
- RISING ACTION
- The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is a bestselling, Newbery Honor winner that was written in 2015. The story is set in England at the outbreak of World War II in 1939-1940.
- CLIMAX / TURNING POINT
- 10-year-old Ada Smith was born with a club foot. Her verbally and physically abusive mother has never treated it or allowed her to learn to walk. Mam forces Ada to clean and care for her little brother Jamie. Jamie will soon be attending school, but Mam says that Ada will never leave their dilapidated London flat. Ada decides that she must teach herself to walk despite how painful it is.
- FALLING ACTION
- The British government expects Nazi Germany to bomb major cities like London. Children are evacuated to the countryside and placed with foster families. Ada sneaks Jamie to the train station. They are placed with Susan Smith, a single woman who says she is ill-equipped to care for children. Despite this, Susan is very kind and the children have a comfortable life. Ada is especially fond of Susan's pony, Butter. Being with Butter is therapeutic and she is determined to learn to ride.
- RESOLUTION
- Ada and Jamie spend a year with Susan, who comes to care deeply for them. She helps Ada overcome the years of trauma and neglect. Ada learns to ride Butter and helps the farrier care for horses on the Thornton estate. She befriends Margaret Thornton and begins learning to read and write. Ada even helps the evacuated soldiers from the Battle of Dunkirk and becomes a local hero helping to capture a spy! But their worst nightmares come true and Mam comes to take them away.
- Back in London, Mam locks up Ada and Jamie again in the tiny apartment despite the threat of a bombing. She leaves for work and London is bombed! Ada and Jamie barely make it out of their apartment alive. They are stunned to see Susan through the smoke, rushing to find them! Even though she felt forced to give them back to their biological mother, she regretted it the moment Mam took them.
- Susan, Ada, and Jamie return to their village to find that Susan's home was bombed while they were gone! The townspeople were desperately digging to try and find them in the rubble. If Susan hadn't gone to London to rescue Ada and Jamie, she could have died. She thanks Jamie and Ada for saving her life. Ada says that they are even because Susan saved her life too.
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