"The War That Saved My Life" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The War That Saved My Life is a real gem of a middle-grade novel. I do want to give a content warning to parents. The main character in this book is a young girl with a physical disability (she was born with a club foot that was never treated). She gets mistreated and physically abused by her mother, and I think the book could be hard to read for some children. Nonetheless, I think it is a very important novel and although it is heart wrenching, it is at its core very hopeful.

Ada and her brother Jamie live in London. Jamie goes to school, but Ada never leaves the apartment and looks at the world through the window. But then WWII breaks out in Europe and with it, London is under threat of being bombed. Children get evacuated into the country and Ada ceases this opportunity to leave the city and the prison her life has become in her mother's one-room apartment.

Even though the war rages around them, Ada and Jamie start living for the first time only when they leave London and get placed in the home of Susan Smith. For her part, Susan also finds a new meaning in life with the arrival of these two neglected and abused children. Even though at first, she is a reluctant caregiver, gradually she and the children learn to love each other and do truly pull each other out of despair and misery.

5 out of 5 stars. I already started reading the sequel.

"Veiled in Smoke" by Jocelyn Green

I must confess, one of the reasons I requested an ARC of this book was its gorgeous cover. I also love historical fiction and had never read a book set in Chicago during the Great Fire of 1871. This book follows the fate of two sisters whose father suffers from soldier's heart (or PTSD as we call this disorder now). Their bookshop and house go up in flames in the fire, and in addition to that, their father is accused of murder and gets locked away in an insane asylum. This book is quite slow-paced, but at the same time, the plot moves along enough to keep the reader engaged and vested in the story. The characters are likable and the murder mystery line kept me turning the pages.

Another aspect of the book that I appreciated but might be a turn-off for others is the main characters' emphasis on staying strong in faith and putting their trust in God. This theme gets stronger as you get farther into the book. Finally, I think overall, the author tried to stay true to the time period. The characters' manners and conduct certainly seem historically accurate to my inexpert eye. 5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book.

An e-ARC was received from NetGalley.com