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Honesty in Fiction: A Conversation With Kimberly Brubaker Bradley on The War I Finally Won
Just Right Reads is a series hosted by Kamilla Benko, children’s book editor and author of the forthcoming The Unicorn Quest, featuring newly released middle grade books and Q&As with your favorite authors!
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Kimberly Brubaker Bradley chats with Kamilla Benko about the sequel to her Newbery Honor book, The War That Saved My Life. In its sequel, The War I Finally Won, the story again follows Ada, a ten-year-old with a clubfoot, who escapes her abusive mother to the British countryside at the beginning of World War II. This time, however, the community is turned upside down by the arrival of a Jewish refugee from Germany.
Kimberly discusses what it was like to re-enter Ada’s story, shares which character is most like her, and reveals which character wasn’t planned and just strolled onto the page.
At what point did you realize there was more of Ada’s story to tell? Was it hard to go back into her world?
I actually always knew that this would be two books—the idea came to me as two books, with the ending of the first book exactly where it ended up being. That said, it was much, much harder to write the second book than I expected. It wasn’t hard to reenter Ada’s world or to find her voice again, but it was hard to tell the story of her healing in a way that felt different from the first book and yet a natural continuation of it, and that also had a plot. I struggle to find plots sometimes.
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Ada’s story begins in a one-room apartment in London and she is very poorly educated, but throughout the course of her story, her world (and vocabulary!) grows and grows. In the most recent installment, her world expands even more when she meets a German-Jewish girl named Ruth. Why did you feel it was important for Ada to come face-to-face with the so-called enemy?
I think that humans naturally tend to see unfamiliar people as “Other,” and I think it’s something we need to actively work against. So from a social point of view it’s good to have a character recognize how much she has in common with someone she first thought was nothing at all like her. From a story point of view, Ruth brings in a lot of drama.
The Holocaust plays an important role in this book, even though many of the characters themselves are mostly unaware of its existence. Is the character of Ruth based on any real historical figures? How common was her story, and are there any books on the Holocaust you would recommend to middle grade-age readers?
Ruth is not based on any historical figure. There were a fair number of Jewish refugees in England prior to the start of the war but I don’t have any specifics, because I never did research regarding the specifics. Other books I’d recommend include When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Echo, and Alan Gratz’s new Refugee.
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Why do you feel it is important to write historical fiction for children, and more importantly, from a child’s perspective?
I write historical fiction because I love it, not because I think it’s more important than other genres. I think the most important trait for any work of fiction is honesty. As for the child’s perspective—while it’s possible to write fiction for adults from a child’s perspective, it’s nearly impossible to write fiction for children from an adult’s perspective. Children haven’t been adults yet, and they don’t really relate to an adult point of view.
You have a wide cast of lovable and complex characters—Ada, Jaime, Susan, Maggie, Lady Thorton, and many more! Which character do you feel is most similar to you?
Probably Ada, in all honesty, though I’ve got a touch of Susan in me.
In both books, many characters find solace in their animal companions. Why is it important for you to include relationships between animals and humans in your books? Do you have your own Butter or Bovril?
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Bovril just showed up; I didn’t plan him. I have four cats right now, but I’m allergic to them so they all live in the barn. They’re working cats: I expect them to keep the mouse and rat population under control. But horses have long been a solace and a source of joy to me, and I knew they would be to Ada, too. I’ve been lucky enough to have close relationships with a number of horses. Right now my barn includes my darling Sarah, an enormous part-draft mare who feels all the feelings and wants to jump all the things; Gulliver, my partner in crime for years, who miraculously recovered from what we thought was a career-ending injury and is now being ridden by a young friend of mine, and Mickey, my daughter’s highly sensitive, emotional, persnickety, brave little lion of a Thoroughbred.
Finally, what was your favorite book when you were Ada’s age?
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I tended to reread books multiple times, but Wrinkle was the first book I reread with intent, trying to find out WHY exactly I loved it so much.
The War I Finally Won is on B&N bookshelves now.