Review by Booklist Review
Two powerhouse authors collaborate on an enormously entertaining, expertly researched WWII novel with broad appeal. The adventure begins when Lizzie, 14, gives her chaperone the slip and sets out to join her brother in London. Jakob, 19, is actually at Bletchley Park. It is May 1940, and he has joined the "most worthwhile game," the effort to break Germany's Enigma codes. Time is of the essence if they are to foil Hitler's invasion of England, but Lizzie needs Jakob's help to solve a more personal puzzle--finding their mother. Their Jewish British father died nine years earlier, and now their mother, an American, is missing and presumed dead while on an embassy assignment in Poland. Jakob withdraws into his work, while Lizzie throws herself into uncovering the truth. The siblings narrate in short, alternating chapters that propel the reader forward. Daily life at the Park is intriguing and mysterious: an MI5 spy lurks on its edges, making cryptic threats, and secret messages appear in Lizzie's lodgings, begging to be deciphered. The authors successfully blend genuine suspense, sibling relationship issues, and humorous hijinks to create a tone both heartfelt and playful. Lizzie is a star--precocious, bossy, daring, and willing to risk everything for her family and new friends. Perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, this is an excellent fictional companion to Candace Fleming's The Enigma Girls (2024). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Both masters of their craft, Sepetys and Sheinkin's collaboration will draw fiction and nonfiction fans, not to mention a code-breaking coterie.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This dynamic collaboration from Sepetys (I Must Betray You) and Sheinkin (Impossible Escape), set in May 1940, is marked by swift, snappy, and suspenseful storytelling narrated by Polish Jewish siblings Jakob and Lizzie. Nineteen-year-old Jakob has been recruited from Cambridge University by Britain's Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park to help decipher messages encrypted using the German Enigma machine. When his self-described straightforward-speaking 14-year-old sister Lizzie eludes their American grandmother's (first, but not last) attempt to bring her to Cleveland, she, too, ends up at Bletchley Park, assigned to carry packages between departments. Now, Lizzie endeavors to disprove the apparent death of their mother, who worked at the American Embassy in London and disappeared in Poland during the 1939 German attack. Short chapters make for fast-paced narration through simultaneously developing mysteries and relationships. Especially well depicted--and explained--is the excitement, as well as the daily drudgery, of codebreaking, culminating in a seamlessly entertaining and edifying read. Most characters, all portrayed as white, are fictional, but historical figures such as U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and mathematician Alan Turing play minor roles. Includes b&w archival photos and an endnote. Ages 10--up. (Oct.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 6--10--This dual-narrative novel follows siblings Jakob and Lizzie Novis through WWII-era London just prior to the Blitz. Jakob is 19, working as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, trying to unlock the secrets of the German Enigma machine. His younger sister Lizzie wants to remain in England but is caught in a furious battle with her American grandmother over an attempt to bring her to the U.S. Lizzie is vehement about staying because she wants to locate their mother, an embassy worker who went missing in Poland when the Nazis invaded. And while Jakob doesn't believe their mother is alive, when he and Lizzie start receiving coded messages in the mail, the siblings unite to uncover the truth. This book is an impressive joint effort between Sepetys and Sheinkin. Not only do they present a history of cryptography within details of life at Bletchley Park, they also highlight the Enigma-cracking contributions of well-known figures (e.g., Alan Turing) along with the lesser-known Polish team of Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy Ró ycki. Sepetys and Sheinkin have created two protagonists who balance and complement each other in the dual-narrative format: Lizzie is assertive, quick-thinking, and persistent, while Jakob is reserved, thoughtful, and protective. The dangers of life in wartime England are ever present, but this book introduces enough levity to keep the tone light and engaging. VERDICT With broad appeal to both WWII and mystery enthusiasts, this highly recommended title is a first purchase for all libraries serving tweens and teens.--Michael Van Wambeke
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
It's the summer of 1940 in this collaboration between Sepetys (whose historical fiction for older readers includes, recently, I Must Betray You, rev. 5/22) and Sheinkin (primarily nonfiction, recently Impossible Escape, rev. 9/23). Hitler has taken over most of Europe and is about to attack England, as top minds at Bletchley Park, outside of London, race to break German codes that could alert the Allies of Nazi battle plans. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis works at Bletchley Park, while his fourteen-year-old sister, Lizzie, is consumed with finding their embassy-worker mother, Willa, presumed dead in the German invasion of Poland in 1939. But Lizzie doesn't believe it. She tracks down clues of her own as the codebreakers race to crack a cipher created by the Nazis' Enigma machine. Secrets build upon secrets, riddles upon riddles, and figuring them out might just save a family, or a world. The fifty riveting final pages are a master class in suspense, as Lizzie risks going to London just as the Luftwaffe readies for their attack on the city. Jakob steals a car to find Lizzie, and as they drive off back to Bletchley after learning shocking revelations about their family, the sky fills with airplanes, "a sinister swarm of evil black birds...Hitler's wrath is descending." With its expert pacing and characterization and its careful delineation of historical and family stories, this is historical fiction at its best. A note and photographs are appended. Dean SchneiderSeptember/October 2024 p.88 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England. Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother--who's attempting to bring her back to America--Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who's stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother's estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother's likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was "Polish Jewish British," eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie's directness is repeatedly attributed to her being "half American," which proves tiresome, but Jakob's development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative's time period. A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.(Historical mystery. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
