Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein was published in 2012, and though I've had it for a few years, I finally read it. I struggled to get into this book because I wasn't sure what was happening, but I am glad I stuck with it.

The story begins with the writings of a woman who has been captured by the Gestapo. She is accused of being spy and is being tortured for information. She has agreed to write her story for them. The reader is unsure who she really is. The story is painful to read at times even though it is well written as the subject is dark.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is fiction but a story that could have happened. The story is plausible and the characters are well written. Sometimes they are likeable and sometimes they are not - just like real people. My confusion was gone once I got to part two. This part is written by a different character and questions begin to get answered. I found myself going back and reading the spy's account over again, and thinking, "Oh, how clever," and "Oh, well done, Wein, well done." The writing is so vivid, I felt like I was watching a movie.

Books about the Holocaust are important, and I liked that this book is about the women who put themselves at risk for the greater cause. I loved the friendships in this story, and this is a book I would read again.

My neighbor, Marla called me last week and said that Jackie Simper donated 90 brand new Seuss books to her classroom. She only needed 30, so these will be in the next 60 packets that go to the NICU. They are beautiful full size hard back books. Thank you to Marla for thinking of  our project when she had books that needed a home, and Thank you to Jackie for donating these books. I appreciate you both.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you.