This unique story of spies, war, and friendship grabbed me and tricked me and kept me on the edge of my seat. Most of the book is the written confession of a British teenager who is captured by Nazis in France during World War II. The Germans torture her but give her six weeks to write out all she knows and she seems to be giving them all her secrets in order to stay alive. Her story tells of a remarkable friendship with another young woman who became a pilot during the war. Together the two girls ended up flying into France, but their mission went terribly wrong. This book has twists and turns and many secrets—so many that I don't want to tell any more about the plot for fear of giving them away. Suffice it to say, at one point in the book I had to go back and re-read previous chapters just to see what was truth and what was lies. Readers with an interest in aviation, spies, or World War II will love this. Other readers just might develop some new interests as they get pulled into the world of Verity and Kittyhawk. I would recommend this book to high school students and adults.
1 comment:
CODE NAME VERITY is a taut, thrilling novel that is appropriate for both for teens and adults. Elizabeth Wein has created a gripping story perfect for fans of historical fiction, adventure, mysteries or thrillers, and she does so without sacrificing the character development and literary quality that often seems thrown to the wind in books with complicated, nuanced plots.
I can't tell you much more about the book without giving away spoilers. It's certainly a story you'll want to read as quickly as possible the first time, and then you'll want to read it again to go through it more slowly, picking out all the clues that Wein has so subtly planted. She doesn't shy away from the violence and darkness that characterized World War II, but neither does she revel in it, instead revealing it to be at once grim, unreal, and matter-of-fact.
Post a Comment