Part I: Bibliographic information
Type: Fiction (Audiobook)
Title: Code Name Verity
Writer: Elizabeth Wein
Performers: Morven Christie & Lucy Gaskell
Copyright Date: 2012
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd, publisher; Brilliance Audio, distributor
ISBN: 978-1-7431-0566-5
Genre/subgenre: YA Fiction/Historical fiction, WW II
Interest Age: 13+
Reading Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Pages: 9 disks
Awards: The book has been shortlisted for CILIP Carnegie Medal; Michael Printz Award Honor Book; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book; SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Book, according to Wein's website.
Part I: Reader’s Annotation, Plot Summary, Critical Evaluation
Reader’s Annotation -- A thrilling tale of two good friends who serve together during World War II and find their fates entwined in the tragedy of war. One is a rough-and-tumble female transport pilot and the other an sophisticated intelligence officer serving with the Resistance -- the two are bound tightly as they go from the innocence of pre-war Britain to the brutality of a Gestapo prison.
Plot Summary -- One of the two main characters, Mattie, is the daughter of a motorbike dealership owner. She learns to ride -- and rebuild -- a motorcycle at 16 and explores the countryside in this way. Later she meets a female pilot who crashes nearby, which turns out to be a fortuitous meeting that begins her odyssey of learning to fly. She decides to ask her grandfather to help pay for her to get her pilot's license -- and he agrees. But the war begins and most of the private aircraft are commandeered by the British military. She joins the Women’s Auxillary Air Force and is trained as a radio operator because women were not serving in combat flying at the time.
At first, the story is being told by unidentified person but we find out partway through the book that person is Queenie. Queenie, a Scottish aristocrat, comes from a family who live in a castle and whose entire family serves in the war effort. Her brother Jamie serves in the RAF even after a devastating crash over the Atlantic. He becomes an important character in the plot since he is friendly with Mattie, too. These connections are rather unlikely outside of wartime as Mattie is Jewish and from a trade class and Queenie and Jamie are Scottish aristocrats. The become the best of chums through common experiences and assignments.
The three of them are stationed in a highly secret air defense facility on the coast of England. There Mattie sets herself apart for her knowledge of navigation and aerial operations and is later she is given a chance at transport flights over England, and she becomes familiar with dozens of aircraft. Queenie is working in a secret position that involves using her German translation skills -- and she is flown into assignments on a regular basis sometimes by Mattie. On one occassion, Mattie is conscripted to fly Queenie to Frances and for reasons beyond their control they are shot down over Nazi-occupied France. A significant and engaging portion of the book is the tale of trying to save themselves while stuck in occupied territory in the provincial region of Orne, France.
We learn this entire story in hindsight by Queenie who is journaling every detail as she is held captive by the Gestapo. The tale becomes a series of descriptions of her present fate as a captive and flashbacks to how they got there and of Mattie's contribution to the effort. The very last section of the book is narrated by Mattie, who gives her perspective on the unfolding events and later in the book she interprets the story in light of Queenie’s journal, which she is smuggled to her before she escapes to English soil.
Critical Evaluation -- What a gem this work of historical fiction is! I was not certain what to expect as I only know that the work was about female war pilots. The plot is truly an original one and is told with the most carefully researched details right down to the proper knitting stitch of the times. Wein captures the sense of duty and camaraderie among the RAF with believable but extraordinary developments as she tenderly draws the reader into the internal dialog of both Queenie as prisoner and Mattie as refugee. Their unfolding friendship enriches the story with mutual concern for their fates and hopelessness that war brings to situations. The Nazi-occupied France segments contrast sharply to the serenity of the early scenes in which the girls travel around and fly over the pre-war Scotland and Britain. They grow up fast and faced with the most mature of situations in due course. The use of literary references both from British and German literature adds depth and special meaning to the text. And, the audiobook, which is reviewed here, includes some Scottish folk song and German opera outtakes. On the whole, this is one of the most original and engaging works of historical fiction that I’ve read in recent times, and it goes far beyond the young adult audience in potential reader appeal.
Part III: Author Info
Her website states, “Born in New York City in 1964, Elizabeth moved to England when she was three and started school there. Her father Norman Wein, who worked for the New York City Board of Education for most of his life, was sent to England to do teacher training at what is now Manchester Metropolitan University, where he helped organize the Headstart program there. When Elizabeth was six, Norman was sent to the University of the West Indies in Jamaica for three years to do the same thing in Kingston. Elizabeth loved Jamaica and as a child was fluent in Jamaican patois; but in 1973 her parents separated, and Elizabeth and her younger brother and sister ended up back in the USA living with their mother Carol Flocken in Harrisburg, PA, where Carol's parents were. When Carol died in a car accident in 1978, Carol's parents took the children in and raised them (Biography, 2013).”
Some additional remarks of interest from her Biography (2013) include, “Elizabeth went to Yale University, spent a work-study year back in England, and then spent seven years getting a PhD in Folklore at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she held a Javits Fellowship. While in Philadelphia she learned to ring church bells in the English style known as "change ringing", and in 1991 she met her future husband there at a bell ringers' dinner-dance. Tim is English, and in 1995 Elizabeth moved to England with him, and then to Scotland in 2000....Elizabeth and Tim share another unusual interest - flying.”
Part IV: Curriculum Ties, Diversity, Booktalk Ideas, Challenge Issues
Curriculum Ties, if any -- This is a work of historical fiction about WW II. Any course delving into the topic would benefit from incorporating portions of this work if not the entire work.
Diversity of Cultures -- Scottish, British, French and German characters interact in this work and it makes for a fascinating study in the challenges of language and the commonalities of high culture across borders.
Booktalking Ideas -- Mattie and Queenie might never had met had the war not brought their fates together. What other experiences beside war build bridges that span across cultural divides?
Challenge Issues -- Some descriptions of violence and torture make this book appropriate for a more mature young reader.
Part V: Reasons chosen
This work was recommended to me by another librarian. The book on CD is particularly interesting in that it introduces the reader to the Scottish and British dialect appropriate to the times and class. The two readers each read one of the main character’s part. It’s very engaging -- with dramatic interplay between the storylines and characters throughout -- and includes musical interludes as well.
I was also pleasantly surprised at the sophistication of this story and really have trouble understanding what makes it young adult material. It’s quite literally, and the plot is rather complex. There is really nothing in YA historical fiction from what I can gather. Nevertheless it is a stand-out story that anyone with interest in aircraft, World War II or adventure would benefit from reading. It’s a bit cliche but I do feel it’s one of those stories that sticks with you as the characters and their destinies are so well drawn that it reads like a powerful memoir.
Part VI: Citations
Biography. (2013). Elizabeth Wein [website]. Retrieved from http://www.elizabethwein.com/
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