The War I Finally Won - Blog Tour

Teachers Who Read Review

This sequel was my most highly anticipated release of 2017 as soon as I heard there was to be a continuum of the The War That Saved My Life. As a 5th grade reading teacher, I have to be brutally honest to you all, as I am with my students. 

I did NOT read historical fiction...UNTIL The War That Saved My Life. The first book in Ada's story truly changed me and a huge reading gap I had for myself. It is the first historical fiction story I book talk with my students and the first one that doesn't ever really stay on my shelf. 

The War I Finally Won was released on October 3 with much anticipation from my students as well. They are all in a race to finish the first to get to the second. 

You always are nervous about a sequel, most never live up to the hype, but Kimberly has done it again. This story lives up to the first and has taken a whole new part of my heart up that I didn't know was missing for historical fiction.

In The War I Finally Won, you follow Ada's story again by beginning the novel with her club foot surgery, graciously taken care of by Lady Thornton. 

Ada's mind has taken a turn in the story, and one you wouldn't have imagined taking after reading The War That Saved My Life. Ada's Mam was killed in a bombing back in London, and Ada is now unsure of how to react, not only in regards to her Mam's passing, but about knowing who she is after the surgery. The after effects of her mother's emotional abuse seem to have this lasting effect on Ada that you must read on to see and truly understand. 

Her little brother, Jamie, starts to call Susan Mommy, and Ada has some resentment towards this newfound calling. She not only feels that her job as Jamie's caretaker is no longer an option, Ada starts to distance herself from Susan, and questioning everything. This is a very different perspective than that of which we read in the first story. 

As the story continues, Lady Thornton is then forced to move into the cottage that they are living in, thanks again to Lady Thornton, because the government has seized their property for their use. Lord Thornton brings a young German girl, Ruth, to the house for Susan to tutor, and Lady Thornton absolutely refuses to have a German on the property. All while Ruth and Ada have a rough time at first developing a friendship, they start to realize they have one love in common, horses. 

Ada's story in The War I Finally Won is one that you will allow you to fall in love all over again with Ada. You not only understand her emotions, but you empathize with her. The struggles that she undergoes, the questioning of who she is as an individual, and the pain/fear that she fights so hard to persevere against, yet you know that underneath it all, she is afraid. 

This is a must read for any one ages 8 and above. 

SCHEDULE:

Week One:

October 2 – Teen Librarian Toolbox – Review

October 3 – The Reading Nook Reviews – Review

October 4 – Books4yourkids – Review

October 5 – Here’s to Happy Endings – Author Q&A

October 6 – MsYinglingReads - Review

Week Two:

October 9 – Teachers Who Read – Review

October 10 – Gypsy Road – Review

October 11 – YABooksCentral – Giveaway

October 12 – My Little Poppies – Promo: Insta, FB

October 13 – Lourde’s Book Blog Spot - Review

BOOK DESCRIPTION

One of the most anticipated middle grade novels of the year is finally here. The one that answers the question that the wildly popular novel The War That Saved My Life posed: what happens to Ada now? THE WAR I FINALLY WON by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (on sale October 3) is the sequel to the New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor winning The War That Saved My Life and rave reviews are pouring in already.

When Ada's clubfoot is surgically fixed at last, she knows for certain that she's not what her mother said she was--damaged, deranged, crippled mentally as well as physically. She's not a daughter anymore either. What is she? World War II continues, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, are living with their loving legal guardian, Susan, in a borrowed "cottage" on the estate of the formidable Lady Thorton--along with Lady Thorton herself and her daughter, Maggie. Life in the crowded cottage is tense enough, and then, quite suddenly, Ruth, a Jewish girl from Germany, moves in. A German? The occupants of the house are horrified. But other impacts of war are far more intrusive and frightening. As death creeps closer to their door, life and morality during wartime grow more complex. Who is Ada now? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?

AUTHOR BIO

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley lives on a forty-two-acre farm in Bristol, Tennessee, with her husband and two children. She is the author of several middle grade novels, including the widely acclaimed Jefferson's Sons and the Newbery Honor- and Schneider Award-winning New York Times bestseller The War that Saved My Life.