It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week
&
the titles we are currently reading.}
This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!
Description from IndieBound
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. Who is she now?
World War II rages on, and Ada and her brother, Jamie, move with their guardian, Susan, into a cottage with the iron-faced Lady Thorton and her daughter, Maggie. Life in the crowded home is tense. Then Ruth moves in. Ruth, a Jewish girl, from Germany. A German? Could Ruth be a spy?
As the fallout from war intensifies, calamity creeps closer, and life during wartime grows even more complicated. Who will Ada decide to be? How can she keep fighting? And who will she struggle to save?
Ada’s first story, The War that Saved My Life, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and won a Newbery Honor, the Schneider Family Book Award, and the Josette Frank Award, in addition to appearing on multiple best-of-the-year lists. This second masterwork of historical fiction continues Ada’s journey of family, faith, and identity, showing us that real freedom is not just the ability to choose, but the courage to make the right choice.
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I wish I could put my finger on why I like these books so much. The way Bradley is able to get into the head of Ada, the main character, is mesmerizing. Ada reminds me a little of Anne (of Anne of Green Gables). She’s fierce and determined, but she is also lacking knowledge. It is amusing to see the things she doesn’t understand. Dragons aren’t real? But if I had been kept in one room all my life like she was, I’d have the same confusions.
Ada has a strong sense of justice and doesn’t like to see people mistreated. She even stands up to adults who have power over her when she feels they are being unfair. It was great how Ada stood up for Ruth—the German Jewish refugee—when Mrs. Norton treated her so poorly.
I recommended this book to my mom. Something about it reminded me of her. I think it was Susan’s wisdom. I hope she reads it so we can talk about it.
If you haven’t read The War that Saved My Life, then start there and jump into The War I Finally Won.
PERIOD 1&2 READ 15 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
PERIOD5&6 READ 24 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
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PERIOD 8&9 READ 22 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.
Description from IndieBound
Nadia’s family is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from award-winning author N.H. Senzai.Silver and gold balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress.
Nadia stands at the center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba, brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns.
It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.
AUDIO BOOK
{Eat the Book} 