For each Literature Project, you will need a TITLE PAGE that gives the following information:
Your Name
The Literature Project #
The Title and Author of the book
Your Name
The Literature Project #
The Title and Author of the book
What Did You Learn?
Write a one-page summary of what you learned from a book that you read recently. The summary might include factual information, something that you learned about people in general, or something that you learned about yourself.
It must be one-page double-spaced as shown in the SAMPLE below.
SAMPLE ONE-PAGE SUMMARY
Answering the questions: What Did you Learn?
Kim Johnson
Literature Project #7
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
I chose The War that Saved My Life because it won a Newbery Honor Award. By reading this book, I learned about how people
are treated with a physical handicap, how parents sometimes do nothing to help their child, how the ability to move plays a crucial role
in any person's development, and how confidence is gained.
The main character, Ada, was born with a clubfoot. Even when a person has a physical handicap, they should be given the same
treatment as they would give any normal person. Ada is now nine years old and has been living in an apartment all her life, not being
able to get out. She has looked out the apartment window and that's how she sees and knows the world.
Ada's mother has not treated her very well. In fact, I think she is abusive. She doesn't want the best for Ada and she seems to
have no hope for Ada's future. Ada's mother doesn't think that Ada will ever amount to anything so she hasn't sent her to school. She
doesn't know how to read or write. When Ada does escape, she learns that her mother could have done things to help her clubfoot.
She seems to think that her mother didn't know that something could be done to help her walk. But deep down inside she knows by
the way her mother treated her.
Walking shouldn’t be impossible for Ada. The ability to move does play a crucial role in a person’s development. Ada has
crawled her way through life. But now she still has her clubfoot but she is experiencing life in so many different ways. Even
emotionally, her thoughts are more pleasant and she seems to have hope for herself. She truly cares for others and is being seen as a
normal child.
Ada has gained so much confidence by being in the countryside and being allowed to go outside. Not only has that given her
confidence, but one time in the book Susan sees Ada in a new green dress, and she calls her beautiful. Ada starts to hear the voice of
Mam, her mother, in her head and she couldn’t bear to be called beautiful. Susan has even told her over and over that her brain is far
away from her clubfoot, which means that Ada is smart. Just because she has a physical handicap doesn't mean she is stupid. She
experiences the love from Susan as though she were her real mother. Words can have an impact on a person’s thoughts and feelings
and the way they see themselves.
For Ada, escaping to the countryside was the best thing for her. That's why the book is called The War that Saved My Life. The
World War II has actually saved her life because she is being treated as a normal child. She gets to experience riding horses and
actually walking with crutches. I learned that there is a reason for everything that happens. At one point, Ada said "Everybody thinks I'm
nasty, back home. They think I'm some kind of monster." Not only has it saved her emotionally, but physically. She may be able to get
her clubfoot fixed.
ANOTHER SAMPLE ONE-PAGE SUMMARY
This one is written more as a summary of the book events.
Kim Johnson
Literature Project #7
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Before reading The War that Saved My Life, I did not know what a clubfoot was. The main character in the book is
Ava. She is a nine year old girl that was born with a clubfoot. She has never been able to walk. Her mother has kept her
cooped up in their apartment for her whole entire life. I do not understand why her mother did not seek help for Ava.
She treated Ava as though she will never amount to anything.
Ava wants to be normal. She wants to be able to walk and run and play with the other kids. She sits by the
apartment window and looks outside at all the other children playing. She just wants to be like them. Ava has a brother
named Jamie. Jamie is about six years old and is a normal boy. Their mother treats Jamie different from Ava. He is
allowed to go to school, to learn to read and write, and to play outside. Ava is not.
But when World War II is nearing and the government in London begins to ship out the children to escape the
war, Ada is determined to get out of that apartment. Her mother wants her to stay in the apartment and for Jamie to go,
but Ada escapes. She crawls her way out of the apartment and follows Jamie. They eventually get to a safe place on
the countryside where a lady named Susan is their care giver. Susan doesn't want any children, at first. But eventually
she learns to love them.
Susan is determined to get Ada's clubfoot fixed. After all, Susan keeps telling Ada, "Your bad foot's a long way
from your brain." Those words have empowered Ada and made her feel special. Ada has much more confidence in her
abilities to do anything. She has even taught herself to read, to write, and to ride a horse. She is choosing to live her
life with hope, a sense of humor, ambitions, and a positive outlook on life. She is making new friends and developing
inside and out. At the same time, Susan is also growing and learning to love Ada and Jamie. There's a reason that
Susan didn't want any children.
After months of Susan trying to contact Ada's mother to get permission to operate on Ada's foot, the mother
appears and takes the children away. She brings them back to London, where she has moved to a new apartment. She
continues to abuse Ada and refuses to let her outside and even takes her crutches away. She is not interested in
taking care of either of them and only moved them back because it was going to be cheaper for her. Ada confronts her
mother and finds a way for her and Jamie to move in permanently with Susan. And they live happily ever after.