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written by Kasey Cox, June 10, 2013
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Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein, is the best book I’ve read this year.
That’s saying a lot, since we’re currently flying through June 2013 – Laurel Festival will be over by the time you read this, and we’ll all be looking forward to plans for the 4th of July. Obviously, I’m a book fiend who devours as many books a week as I possibly can. Though I’ve been on a big mystery kick these last few months, I’m so glad I finally made some time to read this young adult historical fiction book that’s been on my “to read” list since it was first released in hardcover last May. (It’s available in paperback now!) This is one of those books that made me say, “Why did I wait so long to read this?!?”
Of course, I’m predisposed to fall in love with Code Name Verity, since I am fascinated with the Resistance movements during WWII, especially in France; spies, double agents, and the work of the OSS; early aviators; and the women who fit in these areas of history. It follows that I’ve written reviews on Antoine St.-Exupery, French pilot and author; a factual book written by a woman who worked for and survived the French Resistance, entitled Code Name Christiane Clouet; and Jeff Shaara’s historical fiction To the Last Man, which details the early pilots of WWI, including the Lafayette Escadrille, and the infamous Red Baron. Amelia Earhart was one of my first history girl crushes, and remains a marvel to me. I studied in France, but spent much less time there than I wanted to. So it feels that Elizabeth Wein wrote this book just for me.
However, you don’t need to be a Francophile, an Anglophile, a WWII history buff, or a student of early aviation to enjoy Code Name Verity. This is a story that transcends the time period, with characters that breathe and weep and strain off the pages, and with universal themes that make it a work of great literary fiction. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of fiction books written with a WWII setting – to say nothing of the thousands of nonfiction tomes covering every angle of the War. What makes Code Name Verity stand out from a field of so many choices, many of them excellent?
Without a doubt, Verity is as beautifully written as any WWII book out there, fiction or nonfiction. In the short year since its publication, this writing has been recognized by glowing reviews in everything from The New York Times Book Review to the School Library Journal, and it has won such prestigious awards as the Michael L. Printz Award, the Boston-Globe Horn Book Award, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Young Adult Fiction. Wein’s research for the book was a lengthy process, and it shows in every detail of descriptions of the anti-aircraft guns at early British airfields, the new invention of pens that don’t need a nib and an inkwell, and the uniforms worn by the women who worked for the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) in Britain.
To say too much about the actual storyline would be to spoil the pleasure of reading it for yourself, but "Verity" is the code name for one of the two protagonists of this novel: she is a woman spy who has been captured in France not far into her mission. Verity has been given a terrible choice: write her confessions, revealing everything she knows about war preparation in the UK and the secrets of the spy network, or continue to face torture (both subtle and brutal) and eventual execution. In the meantime, Verity worries about her best friend Maggie, the female pilot who ended up flying her into France. Facing damage to their plane from anti-aircraft fire on the flight in, Verity was forced to parachute in while Maggie crash-landed the plane. As Verity weaves her “confession” across pages and pages of random paper, the reader wonders, how much is true (“Verity” = "Verite", for “truth” in French), and how much is stalling for time, so that at least one of the women can be rescued? Wein creates an amazing balance of both deeply intimate moments and a thrilling adventure story, to be savored by adults and teens alike.
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