Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity

Cover of the 2012 Electric Monkey UK edition.
Author	Elizabeth E. Wein
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Young adult fiction Historical fiction Thriller
Publisher	Hyperion Books
Publication date	May 15, 2012
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	451
ISBN	978-1423152194
OCLC	748286341
LC Class	PZ7.W4358 Cp 2012
Followed by	Rose Under Fire

Code Name Verity is a young adult historical novel by Elizabeth Wein that was published in 2012.^[1] It focuses on the friendship between two young British women, one English and one Scottish, in World War II – a spy captured by the Nazis in German-occupied France and the pilot who brought her there. It was named a Michael L. Printz Honor Book in 2013, and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

A loose sequel, Rose Under Fire, was published in 2013. A prequel novel, The Pearl Thief, is to be published in May 2017; it is to be a mystery involving Code Name Verity's protagonist Julie one year before the war starts.^[2]

Plot

In 1943 Nazi-occupied France, a British spy plane crashes in the fictional town of Ormaie. On board are two best friends, a pilot (code name: Kittyhawk) and a spy (code name: Verity). The latter is soon captured by Nazi authorities, detained in a former hotel, and forced to write a confession detailing the British war effort, which she decides to write in the form of a novel. Through her confession, she tells the story of her friendship with Maddie, the pilot, and how she came to enter France in the first place. In the second part of the plot, the story is told from Maddie's point of view, and reveals the events that transpired after the plane crash that left both girls in France, and her plan to find Verity and bring her back home.

Critical reception

Code Name Verity received critical acclaim. The New York Times praised it as "a fiendishly plotted mind game of a novel, the kind you have to read twice",^[3] and Kirkus called it a "carefully researched, precisely written tour de force".^[4] Code Name Verity is one of five young adult novels published in 2012 to receive starred reviews in all six trade journals.^[5]

The novel won the 2013 Michael L. Printz Honor Book,^[6] the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and the Golden Kite Honor in 2013. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.^[7]

References