Wonderful blurbs, BK. Congratulations.
I was in many dangerous situations as a child in Hungary. We tried to escape, were shot at by the Russians, captured, put in jail. all that fun stuff. That was AFTER our apartment buidling was set on fire and we had to escape to another building through crossfire with bodies falling left and right. (They didn't let us into that building, BTW.) Well, I could go on and on, but I won't.
To be in danger as a child is, I think, the worst possible experience, because you're so helpless. As an adult, you can act, react. As a child, things just happen to you and the adults are always in control. That does tend to do stuff to your head.
That's probably one of the reasons I like to write - you're the master of your (your characters' that is) destiny.