Review

Code Name Verity

Common Sense Media says

Plot-twisting, heart-wrenching, unforgettable WWII story.
Age
15
Quality
 
  • Educational value5
    Readers will learn a lot about day-to-day life in Britain and France during World War II, as well as details about everything from aviation to espionage. Author Wein also refers liberally to historic events (the dying words of Admiral Nelson figure prominently in the story) and literary works from Burns to Kipling. Because the plot calls for foreign language translation, readers will pick up some French and German, including swear words.
  • Positive messages5
    Strong messages of friendship, patriotism, courage, incredible resourcefulness, and doing the right thing under impossible conditions are essential to Code Name Verity.
  • Positive role models5
    Courageous, resourceful, and pragmatic, Maddie and Queenie go to heroic lengths to help both the war effort and each other. Author Wein excels at not only making the "good" characters complex (with foibles from the comic to the life-threatening) but also at showing the human side of the villains, e.g. Nazi torturer von Linden's love for his daughter.
  • Violence4
    Characters are shot, tortured, and killed in various gruesome ways in Nazi-occupied France, and there's a constant atmosphere of terror. Author Wein doesn't dwell unduly on the details, but they're frequent and vivid enough to make a strong impression. It being wartime, many pilots and other characters become combat casualties. Queenie is covertly asked whether her torturers are raping her and says no.
  • Sex1
    Paul, the Resistance leader who figures in the plot, is notorious among every woman in the movement for being "such a lech." The practical implications of fending off the unwelcome advances of one's collaborator in the underground comes up for discussion.
  • Language4
    "F--k," "f--king," "s--t" (and the British variant "s--te"), and other swear words are used with well-targeted appropriateness in context -- it's wartime. They're often also translated into French or German.
  • Consumerism0
    Not applicable.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking2
    Characters, generally adults, smoke cigarettes (accurate for the era) and drink alcohol. Cigarettes are sometimes used as instruments of torture and also as gifts, and cognac is used as an element of subterfuge. 
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that 2013 Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity takes place in the darkest days of World War II, with two teen U.K. girls on a covert operation for the Allies imperiled after they crash-land in Nazi-occupied France. Author Elizabeth Wein pulls few punches as she describes the grim realities of war, the Resistance, the nasty details of Nazi torture (including via cigarette), and an otherwise heroic Resistance leader who can't keep his hands off any female within reach. Characters face terrible dangers, and some die horribly. There are bursts of foul language ("f--k," f--king," "s--t," etc.), with British variants and often translated into French and/or German.

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