Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
This book has been marketed as a teen novel, but after reading it I am not sure why. The two main characters are young British women in World War II. One of them "Verity" has been captured by the Germans in France after she made a mistake. After being tortured, she has agreed to give her captors information in exchange for small concessions. She tells the whole story of her friendship with the other young woman, an Air Transport Authority pilot named Maddie. Her written story is the first two-thirds of the book. The last third is Maddie's story. This is a story of courage in the face of extreme danger, of friendship taken to the extreme, and of two very bright young women, thinking on their feet. One gets a real sense of the atmosphere of the war, the way it became a different world for a short time, and the barriers that dissolved under the pressures and needs of the war. It is a story of the nature of truth.
I always love stories set in the first half of the twentieth century and this one is a winner for sure.
Yes, I wondered why this was marketed as a teen book too. The subject matter is definitely adult as is the writing. I found this to be a page turner for me as well.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it was too dark or mature for teen readers. I let my 12-year-old daughter borrow it after I read it, and she loved it as much as I did. I guess it depends on the kid, though. Glad you really enjoyed it.
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