SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

April 16, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

April 16, 2012 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

Every review you see if this book is sparse in details but tells you that you MUST READ IT.  There is a reason for that.  If I gave you too many details, I would totally ruin this book for you and you would hate me forever.  And, yet, somehow I must convey to you that you MUST READ THIS BOOK.  So let me start with this . . .

I hate historical fiction.  I hated history as a student.  If I were to have an arch nemesis it would be history.  There are important things to be learned from history.  Amazing stories to be told.  There is value in history.  It’s just that if I am choosing a book to read, 99 times out of 100 it is not going to be historical.  And yet – yet I loved this book.  It is a powerful story.  If I am telling you that I loved this book, well, that in itself is a strong testament.  I can count the number of historical fiction titles that I recommend with enthusiasm on one hand.  Code Name Verity joins the ranks.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

We begin our tale in a prison where an unnamed narrator has been given two weeks to write down her story.  She has been captured in enemy territory after the plane she was in, being flown by her best friend, is shot down.  She has been tortured and is asked to write down secrets that will betray her country in the war effort.  She knows at the end of the two weeks she will be executed.  And tell her tale she does.  Her tale is a harrowing tale of a woman trying to make her way in a world that is still very much a man’s world and yet, she is drawn in to a variety of events that make her an essential player in World War II.  As the words spill from the nub of her pencil onto the page you learn about courage, camaraderie and, most of all, verity – truth.  Truth is an elusive concept.  Truth has layers.  And this tale has layers, many rich ones.

This is also a great tale of friendship.  There is no romance, no love triangle, no swooning.  Ah but what there is a love so rich and deep and real; a satisfying love of two friends that must face losses we can never imagine until we experience them.  This is a true, deep, abiding love; the sisterhood that comes when two people come together in unimaginable circumstances and face the world head on with each other to lend support.  They are heroines in every sense of the word, but most of all in their undying sisterhood.

As the first part of the tale ends you, as a reader, are drawn into another tale and get to experience the other part of the story.  The two tales come rushing together in a jaw dropping climax.  In a moment, your heart shatters.  You gasp.  And like all good stories, you find yourself thinking what you would do in the same situation.  Here is the hallmark of good storytelling: you care, you think about it, you reflect.  Long after you turn the last page, you keep thinking about this story.

Code Name Verity is a tale told during a time when women were just entering into war and the world still didn’t know what to do with them.  And yet our two main characters are amazing examples of strong, complex, often confident women.  These are girls you know you would want to be friends with in real life.  Or that you would admire from afar.  These are good role models that I would enthusiastically introduce my teen readers to.

Code Name Verity is a complex story.  It twists and turns and you often don’t know what to think.  The tale is a winding journey.  For a long portion of the story you are not even sure who, exactly, is telling this tale.  But it very slowly, very deliberately unfolds on the page and sucks you in.  The very deliberate way in which Wein weaves the details of this story together, similar to the scarf that changes hands in the story, is a testament to the ability of this author.  Every nuance has meaning.  Every moment a revelation, not always in the moment but eventually.  Storytelling is an art and Wein proves herself a master artisan.

Code Name Verity receives 5 out of 5 stars and is highly recommended.  I know, I’m just as surprised as you are.  To be honest, my exact words upon finishing this book were, “holy smokes people”.  That is sophisticated professional reviewer speak for you have to read this book right now.  You’ll just have to trust me on that one.  I know I have told you very little of the story, but it does take place during World War II and our narrator is a prisoner so there are some references to torture.

Stephanie also gives Code Name Verity 5 stars saying, “It completely caught me off guard and I loved it. I cried. It was so me and my best friend. Beautiful.”

Have you read Code Name Verity?  Tell us what you thought about it in the comments.  What other historical fiction titles does you love?

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Book Review: Different for Boys by Patrick Ness with illustrations by Tea Bendix

by Karen Jensen, MLS

March 2023

Book Review: The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent by Ann Jacobus

by Karen Jensen, MLS

February 2023

Book Review: For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome

by Karen Jensen, MLS

February 2023

Book Review: She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

by Karen Jensen, MLS

February 2023

Book Review: Always the Almost by Edward Underhill

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Feb 2023 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Don’t Ban Them. Don’t Silence Them. The Importance of Writing About the “Tough Stuff” in Teen Fiction, a guest post by Lila Riesen

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Duke MDs’ Prescription for Schools? Masks, with Enforcement, and Psychological Support for Teachers, Students.

The Human Rainbow | Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on Antiracism

21 Books About Children and their Names

Pronouncing Kids’ Names Correctly Matters. Here’s How to Get it Right.

Board Book Evolution: No Longer 'Just for Babies'

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023