The War that Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Young Ada, living in England at the start of WWII, has never left the rat-and-roach-infested apartment where she lives with her younger brother, Jamie and her Mam. Ada has a club foot and her Mam deems it too embarrassing to let her outside. Her only connection with the world is looking out a window and waving. She gets around by crawling, until she forces herself up on her feet, painfully learning to walk. One night, when all the children are leaving on trains for the countryside, Ada and her brother sneak out, joining the evacuation. Upon arriving to the outskirts of England, when all the children are provided a home, Ada and Jamie are forced upon Susan, the local spinster, who doesn't want them either. However, through Ada's nightmares and Jamie's bed wetting, Susan warms to them, despite their resistance. She encourages Ada to go outside, getting her a pair of crutches to get around. Butter, the pony, becomes her first friend, whom she learns to ride like the little girl she saw from the train window. Wanting to get Ada the surgery she needs to correct her foot, Susan consistently sends letters to Mam asking for permission, only to be met with silence. Despite feelings of unworthiness, Susan is persistent and shows Ada she is smart, capable and lovable. Ada makes friends, Jamie goes to school and life takes on a routine until the air raid sirens go off, forcing them to below ground shelters. Susan is encouraged to send them further away, but she holds tight, maintaining they will stay together.

One day, on her trek to help Fred with the horses, she notices an unusual sighting: a man rowing ashore, burying something in the ground and walking toward the road. Told that any suspicious behavior should be reported to the authorities, she races to the police station, only to be met with chuckles. Standing strong and waiting to tell someone that will listen, they soon find out that the man was, indeed, a spy.

As war is getting closer and closer, Ada and Jamie arrive home one afternoon to find Mam standing outside the house. She forces them to go home with her and there is nothing Susan can do, but try to give Jamie his cherished copy of The Swiss Family Robinson. The stench, the rats, the lack of food, the hatred all come rushing back to them both. With Mam having taken Ada's shoes and crutches and air raid sirens going off, they hold each other tight, wanting to go "home."

This is beautiful and I couldn't stop reading it. The reader will be right next to Ada as she continues to triumph over the hand life dealt her. She learns to love and accept and believe and hang on. She is a character with grit and fortitude and fingernails to hang on. Read it and be moved.

All the Answers, Kate Messner. When Ava fumbled through a desk drawer, looking for a pencil, she never would have thought the ups and downs that pencil would give her. While taking a test at school, she learns that the blue pencil gives her answers to questions she writes down. She shares it with her best friend, Sophie, who also hears the voice. Through giggles and laughter, they ask all kinds of benign questions and get answers to almost everything. They use the pencil for good when they find out what the elder residents truly want when they visit the home where Ava's grandfather lives. Some are easy to acquire, like an old baseball or a pair of wool socks. Others are more challenging, like her grandfather wanting Ava's mother's forgiveness. The pencil brings Ava anxiety when she learns her mother has cancer but doesn't yet know it. She convinces her mom to keep her mammogram appointment instead of chaperoning on her field trip to the nature center high ropes course. To keep her mind off her mom's day, she forces herself to fret through each obstacle despite her wretched anxiety. She ends up being only one of ten kids to complete all ten obstacles.

One day in school, she learns her grandfather is not doing well. She leaves school, walking to the home, hoping to convince her mom to forgive her father. But, she also learns more about the voice behind the pencil.

This is a moving story that, at first, appears lighthearted and magical, yet has so much depth. It goes far beyond a talking pencil, but latches onto loss, life and acceptance. It wraps its arms around you, hugs you and stays with you. Don't miss out on this moving story.