The enigma girls How ten teenagers broke ciphers, kept secrets, and helped win World War II

While many books for adults have explored the secret facility at Bletchley Park in England and the lives of those working there during WWII, relatively few resources are available for a younger audience. The Germans believed that their complex encryption system was impenetrable; the people working at Bletchley proved them wrong. For three decades after the war, those who had worked on this secret project were not allowed to speak or write about it. In this absorbing book, Fleming approaches the subject by telling the individual stories of 10 young women (most were 18 years old) who left their homes to work secretly on projects related to the German military's Enigma cipher machine. The book's many archival photographs offer glimpses of buildings and projects at Bletchley and scenes of men and women working there during the war, as well as pictures of world leaders, landmarks, and ships at sea. Even readers with little interest in codes and ciphers will find the women's experiences intriguing. Fleming organizes the material well and provides extensive source notes. The book explores the Enigma girls' lives and the importance of their war work, while showing that their choices, actions, and achievements helped the Allies change the course of history.

In this WWII narrative that ranges from 1939 to 1945, Fleming (Crash from Outer Space) chronicles the experiences of 10 young women who, with "record players and teddy bears in tow," took up top secret work at Bletchley Park. Urgent prose sets the scene, detailing a period of barrage balloons, blackouts, and ration cards as government agencies--such as the "hush-hush" Government Code and Cipher School that inhabited Bletchley Park--move to countryside haunts in hopes of wartime safety. Quick-paced, thoroughly researched chapters subsequently intersperse a survey of WWII movements with specifics about Bletchley Park's operations and individuals' assigned tasks, including listening for encrypted Morse code messages, breaking ciphers, translating and indexing information, and working revolutionary machines such as the Bombes and the Colossus. In following the 10 teens' often painstaking experiences, Fleming delivers a fascinating and cohesive overview of Bletchley Park's necessarily siloed, collaborative inner workings that reveals how the figures' ardent efforts affected the outcome of WWII. Engaging interstitials tackle the nuts and bolts of ciphers, clues, codes, and cribs, and b&w photograph reproductions help anchor era-specific information. An author's note, extensive bibliography, and source notes conclude. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Literary. (Mar.)

Gr 8 Up--A thrilling account of how teen girls helped break Nazi code intercepted during World War II. Through impeccable research and magnetic writing, Fleming uncovers the lives of young women who were recruited to live and work at Bletchley Park in the UK countryside, often leaving their homes for the first time, without knowledge as to how they would be aiding the war effort. From all walks of life and with different skills to commend them, the Wrens, part of the female branch of the UK's Royal Navy, were sworn to secrecy and threatened with treason charges and death if their mission was ever revealed to their families. Readers are given a mix of personal stories set against the backdrop of major World War II events, such as the London Blitz, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day. The teens' efforts influenced these monumental milestones, and the gravity of their work was not lost on them. Still, they were young women who played pranks on one another, liked to dress up for local dances, and got homesick. Intermingled throughout are "Top Secret" chapters that feature in-depth explanations of the type of work the Enigma girls (named after the Enigma machine they used to break Nazi code) did, such as illustrating the difference between codes and ciphers and how to decipher coded messages. Fleming captures the emotional and psychological burdens that these teenagers carried and balances it with detailed descriptions of the technology used to carry out their lifesaving tasks. The narrative is broken up by copious black-and-white photographs of the rooms the Wrens worked in; important figures of the time, such as Winston Churchill; the machines they worked on; and other wartime events. The work features a bibliography, source notes, index, and more. VERDICT Fleming does it again! Purchase this compelling blend of WWII, cryptography, and women's history that will mesmerize middle schoolers and inspire them to make an indelible impact on history, too.--Shelley M. Diaz

Bletchley Park, a World War II cryptology center, operated in the English countryside where an extensive and complicated code-breaking operation allowed the Allies to decipher secret messages sent through German Enigma machines. Those transmissions included enemy plans for naval attacks, ship locations, ground positions, and bombing targets, and Fleming (Crash from Outer Space, rev. 11/22, among many others) reveals that the feat of decoding the thousands of pieces of information every day was largely executed by teenage girls and young women. Recruited with little or no knowledge of what their jobs would be, the code breakers were sworn to secrecy -- an oath that would remain unbroken for over thirty years. Fleming's account focuses on ten such young women (one of whom is an offsite radio operator) but, in a masterful presentation of related subject matter, seamlessly intersperses segments on larger historical events, beginning with the Battle of Britain and concluding with V-J Day; clear and thorough explanations of codes and ciphers; and technical advances that led to the use of computers. The girls' personal experiences, from coping with housing shortages, to falling in love, to discovering their future life's work, adds another dimension. Amid the often-tedious work of breaking the ciphers, moments of humanity appear: the joy of pinpointing an enemy bombing target on British soil; the recognition that a freshly bloodstained Nazi cipher book meant "somewhere this German airman was still bleeding, dying maybe...That really did bring the war close." Appended with an author's note, a bibliography of both primary and secondary sources, source notes, and an (unseen) index. Betty CarterMay/June 2024 p.155 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The latest from acclaimed nonfiction author Fleming is a detailed, well-researched account highlighting a lesser-known wartime chapter. This chronological survey of cipher-breaking efforts at Bletchley Park during World War II centers on the now-legendary struggle to crack the Axis powers' messages, including those sent using Enigma machines. This top-secret work was first revealed in the 1970s; Fleming's book adds depth to readers' understanding by sharing the stories of 10 young women in the context of changing societal gender roles. Bletchley's workforce grew to around 7,000 by 1944, with women ultimately outnumbering men. Among the women employees were Patricia Owtram, Jane Hughes, Mavis Batey, Sarah Norton, Diana Payne, Gwen Watkins, Ann Williams, Joanna Chorley, Charlotte Webb, and Marion Graham--all of whom publicly shared their stories decades later. They worked in secret, supporting many aspects of operations: listening for encoded communications; decoding, translating, indexing, and paraphrasing messages; and doing round-the-clock shift work to keep early computers such as the Bombes and Colossus running. Their work helped the Allies defeat the Italian navy in 1941, launch the D-Day invasion of 1944, and bring the Pacific front to a close in 1945. This compulsively readable, compellingly written book will appeal to a broad audience, from readers already interested in World War II to those who are new to the subject. The fascinating photos and diagrams invite browsing. A gripping narrative celebrating teen girls' underrecognized contributions to Allied war efforts. (note about photographs, author's note, bibliography, source notes, photo and illustration credits, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.