Two powerhouses of the historical fiction middle grade and young adult world team up to give readers this compelling look into one of the amazing stories of World War II–Bletchley Park, home to Britain’s code-breaking operation. This is done through the eyes of Lizzie and Jakob, siblings who are quite different from each other. Lizzie is fearless and downright cheeky; Jakob is cautious but brilliant. Both will put the reader on the edge of their seat in this fast-moving narrative that reads as much as a mystery or spy novel as it does historical fiction. And yet, there is a lot of information seamlessly woven in about code breaking and specifically the code breaking efforts of the remarkable group of people at Bletchley Park.
This book is sure to have wide-appeal. Its mindful writing style combined with the age of its protagonists, ages 14 and 19, will give it a large range of readers from middle school even into high school. Additionally, the novel is also a mix of history, espionage, riddles, puzzles, and adventure.
The audio book version is outstanding, with narration alternating between different readers for Jakob and Lizzie.
Review of the unabridged audio book
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 2 religious profanities.
Violence/Gore: Many references throughout the book to the war, bombings, actions of war, prison camps, and other World War II activities; report that a parent is dead and this is referred to often in the book; implied and verbal threats; characters are chased; visual evidence in London of the bombings with descriptions of the destruction; scene in which London is bombed by the Germans with citizens fleeing to bomb shelters and description of some of damage and destruction.
Sex/Nudity: Passing reference to couples snogging; character says (humorously) that there was no harm done to a person’s honor/purity; character gently teases another about a member of the opposite sex; members of the opposite sex admit they have a crush on each other and hold hands.
Mature Subject Matter:
World War II, antisemitism, death, espionage, treason.
Drug/Alcohol Use:
Adults smoke cigars and cigarettes; character carries around a pipe; man drinks, often to excess; characters purposefully try to get a man drunk; adult character drinks and this is referred to a few times; reference to liquor cabinet; reference to bar.
