LAPL Reads's Reviews > Code Name Verity

In October 1943, two British girls, a pilot and a spy, crash their plane in Nazi-occupied France. The spy is captured and imprisoned by the Germans. She is forced to give up her secrets and reveal her mission in writing or face torture like the other captives in the prison. What she really writes, though, is the story of her friend Maddie, the pilot of the crashed plane, whom she assumes is dead.

But once the narrator details her experience with the British military and her current situation being imprisoned with the Germans, the reader’s world is turned upside down.

Beautifully written and well researched, Wein keeps you on the edge of your seat. Admittedly, the beginning of the book moves a little slowly, but it’s worth the effort. Once the reader gets to the second half of the book, the story's perspective is completely altered, and everything thought to be true isn't exactly as it seems. Wein does such an amazing job of incorporating clues that readers will want to to back to the beginning to see what they might have missed.

Code Name Verity just won a 2013 Printz Honor Book title, which is amazing, but it was worthy of the highest honor in this reviewer's opinion. And though it may be considered a young adult novel, its appeal is widespread. Both teens and adults will love this story of friendship and courage during a turbulent war.

Reviewed by Loren Spector, Young Adult Librarian, Felipe de Neve Branch