Thursday, August 30, 2018

Mini Reviews: The War That Saved My Life || Wolf Hollow











The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley


Genre: Middlegrade historical fiction
Pages: 336
Publication date: May 2015


Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?




The Good: This is one of the best middlegrade books I’ve read so far this year. Most of the characters are extremely lifelike. For the average kid, being evacuated from home and sent to live with a stranger would be terrifying, but nine-year-old Ada sees it as an opportunity. She uses the evacuation to get herself and her younger brother away from their abusive mother. Ada’s emotions feel raw and realistic. She vacillates between excitement and terror, hope and despair. She’s very conflicted. She doesn’t want London to be bombed, but she doesn’t want to go home, either. She wants to love her temporary family, but she’s angry that they’re only temporary. The author handles Ada’s conflicted emotions very well. I think she’s a realistic abused child.

This novel would definitely appeal to horse-crazy kids. Ada’s favorite thing about the country is riding her new family’s pony. I spent a lot of time riding horses when I was a kid, and most of the books I read were about animals, so I would have appreciated this story.


I wanted to say a lot of things, but, as usual, I didn't have the words for the thoughts inside my head.The War that Saved My Life



The Bad: There’s not much of a plot, so if you’re expecting action, you’ll be disappointed. The book is slow and character-driven. Some kids might not have the patience for it.

Also, all of the characters are complex, except for Ada’s mom. To me, she seems cartoonishly evil. The reader doesn’t see her doing anything except working and abusing her kids. I wanted her to be as complicated as the other characters. I’ll be interested to see if she becomes more rounded in the sequel.



The bottom line: Excellent! If you like character-driven stories, check this one out. I will happily read the sequel.









Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk


Genre: Middlegrade historical fiction
Pages: 304
Publication date: May 2016


Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.



The Good: There’s a lot to like about this book, but it’s hard to review because it’s a mystery. I don’t want to spoil everything. It’s one of those novels that I zoomed through because I wanted to know how it ended. The characters are likeable, and the mystery is compelling. Who is lying? The troubled new girl in town, or the homeless man with a mysterious past. I appreciate that the author doesn’t write down to her readers. The story has a lot of morals, but they’re not the main focus of the book. The author trusts that the readers are smart enough to figure them out.

Even though the morals are in the background, they’re my favorite part. Sometimes heroes don’t look like heroes, and victims don’t look like victims. You can’t judge a person by their appearance or by where they live. You have to get to know them.


Somewhere, excitement waited for me like an uncut cake.Wolf Hollow



The bad: This isn’t necessarily “bad,” but at the end, the plot gets very dark, very suddenly. If your kid doesn’t like sad or scary books, I’d suggest reading the whole thing before you hand it over. It seems like a fairly innocent, predictable plot at first, but . . . nope.

I wish the secondary characters had been better developed, particularly Toby and Betty. A lot of the story revolves around them, but they’re both shallow. I especially wanted to know more about the motivation for Betty’s horrible actions.

My biggest issue with this novel is the behavior of the adult characters. I didn’t believe it. I believe that a kid would want to hide an innocent person from the police because kids aren’t great at predicting the consequences of their actions, but why would adults go along with the plan?

In the story, a child goes missing. She might be lost in the woods, injured, or kidnapped. The police want to ask Toby about the last time he saw her. Some people in town believe that he has something to do with the disappearance. Hiding Toby from the cops doesn’t scream “innocent.” It doesn’t help anyone find the girl. If the cops find Toby, the narrator’s whole family will get in trouble for hiding him. I understand that concealing a wanted man increases the drama in the story, but it doesn’t make sense to me. The police are wasting their resources searching for Toby when they could be putting everything they have toward finding the missing kid. Adults should know that hiding is going to cause more problems than it solves. (Which is exactly what happens . . . )



The bottom line: A compelling plot that teaches important lessons. It requires some suspension of disbelief because the adult characters are infuriating. Younger readers might not notice that, though.







17 comments:

  1. Good post! I like character-driven plots, so maybe I'll check out The War That Saved My Life.

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  2. Honestly, I've never understood why someone would write a children's book without much action, but obviously I'm just not their audience! Even as a child, I needed action to keep me hooked. I'm really glad you enjoyed The War That Saved My Life though! Wolf Hollow sounds like a mess.

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    1. I liked a surprising number of slow books when I was a kid. I guess if I liked the characters and setting, I could live without action. Most of Wolf Hollow was okay. I just got irritated at the adult characters.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. Hmm... I wouldn't have expected the story (Wolf Hollow) to get dark at the end, but I guess the potential is there. Thanks for sharing that! I tend to read most MG books to myself before reading them aloud to my kid. Sometimes my brain even reads ahead in the book while my mouth follows at a slower pace. (I don't know how it works... it just does!)

    I hate bullies. I hate bullies in books, too. I always hope they get their comeuppance. This sounds like it would be an emotional read, but one that you mostly enjoyed. I'm also not a huge fan of suspending belief, but I will do it if I'm engaged in the overall story. Thanks for sharing these!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. The bully definitely gets her comeuppance in Wolf Hollow. I was surprised by how dark the comeuppance was. It’s probably good to read Wolf Hollow to yourself first. Some kids might be freaked out and confused by it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. I am pretty excited to see such positive reviews. Yeah for middle grades. I had a good week with my MG reads too. Ada sounds fabulous, and I love her spirit and attitude.

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  5. It’s too bad the mom in TWTSML was written as just a generic “evil parent.” Sounds like the book could have been much more well rounded had she been fleshed out and made more realistic. It still sounds like a sweet read and I’m sure it’s very easy to pull for Ava and her brother and her hope for a new (better) life.

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    1. I’m excited for the sequel. I’m hoping that the mom will become more believable.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. Wolf Hollow was a bit of a letdown for me, though I don't remember exactly why. I adore TWTSML (and its sequel), and the class I read it to last year was really into it too.

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    1. That’s good news about the sequel. I’m glad you liked it. I enjoyed most of Wolf Hollow, but I got mad at the adults for hiding the homeless guy and wasting police resources.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. I have read the first! I did find it a bit slow, but the premise reminded me of the Narnia kids...minus, ya know, the wardrobe and witches and all that. Minor changes.😂 I did like that it featured disability and I think that's really important. <3

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    1. YES! I like that the main character is disabled. It’s been so long since I read the Narnia books that I barely remember them. It’s probably time for a reread.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. I don't really read middle grade anymore because I've given up on being able to enjoy the genre... However, the first book actually sounds like one I would like. It seems like the main character is really realistic for her situation and circumstances. I was never horse crazy but I can see the appeal. It's weird that there is one cartoonisly superficially evil character when all the rest are so developed though?? It sounds like there are a few too many not middle grade compatible or weird things about the latter for me to be interested in it though.

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  9. Good to know that Wolf Hollow gets dark. As you probably know from some of my reviews, my daughter has a hard time with books that go in that direction. And I definitely see the issues you mention about the adults in the book. That would be frustrating.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  10. I appreciate your comment about Ada's mom being so evil. That's a really good point. She doesn't have nearly the complexity that we get in everyone else. Now you've got me more curious about the sequel :)

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