40 Fun Facts About The War That Saved My Life

What is the name of the pony Ada teaches herself to ride in The War That Saved My Life?

Butter is a bright yellow pony with dark brown eyes, and one glimpse of him through the bushes is what makes Ada want to stay at Susan's house.

Which condition makes Mam keep Ada Smith shut inside a London flat in The War That Saved My Life?

Clubfoot could have been corrected when Ada was a baby, a doctor later confirms, but Mam never had it treated and hid her daughter away out of shame.

To which county are Ada and Jamie Smith evacuated by train in The War That Saved My Life?

Kent is where Susan Smith lives in a coastal village, and Lady Thorton delivers the two evacuees nobody else picked straight to her door.

In The War That Saved My Life, what does Jamie name the cat that Susan lets him keep?

Bovril is a British meat-extract paste that the children are fed every day, and Jamie borrows the name for a cat Susan can barely stand.

Where does Mam shut Ada overnight as a punishment in The War That Saved My Life?

Under the sink is a damp cabinet where cockroaches live, and Susan's cramped air-raid shelter later brings the memory flooding back.

Wounded soldiers from which 1940 evacuation reach Ada's village in The War That Saved My Life?

Dunkirk's rescued troops arrive by ship, and Ada spends the day carrying water to injured men beside a village girl named Daisy.

In The War That Saved My Life, what does Ada see from horseback that leads police to a German spy?

A man rowing ashore and burying a parcel in the sand catches Ada's eye, and she rides to town to report him even though the first officer doubts her.

Why does Jamie's teacher tie his wrist down in class in The War That Saved My Life?

He is left-handed, which the teacher calls the mark of the devil, so Susan marches into the classroom and unties him herself.

What has become of Susan's house when she returns from London in The War That Saved My Life?

Flattened by a bomb, the house is rubble, and because Susan had gone to find the children she was not inside, so she tells them they saved her life.

What becomes Jamie Smith's great passion once he settles in the countryside in The War That Saved My Life?

Aeroplanes fascinate Jamie after the Royal Air Force builds a base across the road, and an officer has to bring him home for sneaking over to watch.

Which American Library Association distinction did The War That Saved My Life earn in 2016?

Newbery Honor status went to Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's novel in 2016, and she earned the same distinction again in 2021 for Fighting Words.

Which sequel to The War That Saved My Life follows Ada Smith after an operation on her foot?

The War I Finally Won opens just after the first book ends, with Susan becoming the legal guardian of both children as the air raids go on.

What is the name of Lady Thorton's daughter, who befriends Ada after a riding fall in The War That Saved My Life?

Maggie is thrown when her spooked horse bolts into Susan's field, and Ada climbs on and rides them both back to the Thorton estate.

What does Dr. Graham give Ada that makes getting around much easier in The War That Saved My Life?

Crutches from the doctor let Ada join Susan on errands to the grocer, the clothes shop and the bank for the very first time.

Why does no villager pick Ada and Jamie at the evacuee hall in The War That Saved My Life?

They are filthy and crawling with lice after years of neglect, so the villagers pass them over until Lady Thorton drives them to Susan herself.

Which phase of the fighting drives Ada into the shelter each night in The War That Saved My Life?

The Battle of Britain starts in July, and Susan hangs herbs in their shelter to mask the smell of damp earth and help calm Ada.

Why do Ada and Jamie start eating less in the new year in The War That Saved My Life?

Rationing begins and the children fear going hungry again, but Susan insists it means different food, not less, and promises always to feed them.

From the evacuee train, Ada Smith sees a girl on a pony do what, then vows to copy her?

Jump a stone wall is what Ada first manages on Susan's pony a year later, moments before she rides home and finds Mam waiting in Susan's garden.

Which surname does a defiant Ada first give Lady Thorton and Susan in The War That Saved My Life?

Hitler is the name Ada snaps back when asked who she is, so neither woman believes her when she then says her real surname matches Susan's.

Which late friend of Susan Smith gave her the pony Ada rides in The War That Saved My Life?

Becky shared Susan's house until her death, and Susan is still grieving for her when the two evacuees turn up on the doorstep.

Which villager at the Thorton estate teaches Ada to ride properly in The War That Saved My Life?

Fred Grimes looks after the Thortons' horses, and when Ada cannot read a letter in loopy handwriting she takes it to him rather than ask Susan.

In The War That Saved My Life, Lady Thorton leads the village branch of which wartime organisation?

The WVS, a women's volunteer service, puts Lady Thorton in charge of housing evacuees, which is why she carries the clipboard at the village hall.

Who carries Ada to the railway station on the morning she escapes London in The War That Saved My Life?

Stephen White had assumed Ada was kept indoors because she was simple, and he is astonished to learn the real reason is her foot.

Which classic novel, loved by Jamie, does Susan read at bedtime in The War That Saved My Life?

The Swiss Family Robinson delights Jamie, but Ada is frustrated by the words she does not know and would rather be outside with the pony.

Which of Susan's belongings does Ada break in The War That Saved My Life, expecting a punishment that never comes?

Her sewing machine breaks in Ada's hands, yet Susan stays calm and offers to teach her how to use it instead of losing her temper.

Why can Susan's pony manage only a slow amble when Ada first rides him in The War That Saved My Life?

Overgrown hooves, untrimmed for years, are the cause, and Ada is furious with Susan for the neglect until the Thortons' stableman cuts them back.

Why does Mam at last come to fetch Ada and Jamie in The War That Saved My Life?

To avoid a weekly fee is her only motive: the government has written asking for nineteen shillings towards the children's keep in the country.

What does Ada find hidden in Mam's new flat that reveals her true age in The War That Saved My Life?

Birth certificates for both children turn up while Mam is out buying food, and Jamie's shows that he was named after their father, James.

What does Ada take from Mam before slipping out of the flat on evacuation morning in The War That Saved My Life?

Her shoes go with Ada into the early-morning dark, where Jamie is stunned to see his sister upright and making her own way to his school.

Which stretch of sea does Ada see from a hilltop without knowing what it is in The War That Saved My Life?

The English Channel is a mystery to Ada until Susan names it at dinner, and on a later ride she finds its shore fenced off with barbed wire.

Where does Mam work nights at the start of The War That Saved My Life, directly below her one-room flat?

In a pub beneath the flat is where Mam spends her nights, until the war brings her a factory job and a move to two rooms.

What does the Thortons' stableman find that lets Ada ride without her right stirrup in The War That Saved My Life?

A side-saddle lets Ada fold her right leg across it, so her bad foot no longer matters and she feels far more secure on horseback.

Besides her foot, Dr. Graham finds the malnourished Ada Smith has the beginnings of which disease?

Rickets comes from too little vitamin D or sunlight, and Ada had spent her whole childhood indoors on scraps of food.

Which detail does Ada point out that gets a well-spoken spy arrested in The War That Saved My Life?

Wet, sandy trousers give him away because the beaches are off limits, even though his accent is flawless and he has documents to show.

Which American Library Association prize for portrayals of disability did The War That Saved My Life win in 2016?

The Schneider Family Book Award was founded by Katherine Schneider, who is blind, and the novel took its middle-grade category for Ada's story.

Which subject did The War That Saved My Life author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley study at Smith College?

Chemistry was her degree, and she worked as a research chemist while writing stories late at night and at weekends before turning to books full-time.

What does a police officer give Ada as thanks for catching a spy in The War That Saved My Life?

An onion arrives with an apology, because the officer who delivers it is the one who had refused to believe her story the day before.

What do the village men take down in case of invasion in The War That Saved My Life?

The street signs come off their posts so invading troops would not know where they were, while ringing church bells are to be Ada's signal to hurry straight home.

How does Susan learn to calm Ada's panic attacks in The War That Saved My Life?

Wrapping her in a blanket, pulled tight, steadies Ada, and Susan uses the same trick when the cramped air-raid shelter sets off her fear.

Which everyday convenience does Ada Smith use for the very first time at the village railway station?

A flushing toilet is new to Ada, and so is the washroom mirror, where she fails to recognise the girl staring back as herself.