The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steven Sheinkin

Synopsis

A stunning collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin, this middle grade historical adventure follows two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers, as they try to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother’s death.

Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…

Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.

The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother’s disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues which unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept?

Review

4,5 stars

First thank you PRH International and Penguin Kids for gifting me a physical copy! I am a big fan of Ruta Sepetys and I was overjoyed to get the book!

I devoured the book even if it’s more MG than YA, a genre I don’t read often. That’s because it is  very good MG!

The Bletchley Riddle is an engaging and fun MG story centered around two siblings. Jacob 19 and Lizzie 14. UK is at war with Hitler and it’s a run at Bletchley Park to crack the Enigma code. 

The sibling duo works very well : Lizzie was my favorite! She is a spitfire. Daring and smart. Very observant. Jacob on the other hand is quieter and at first overlooks Lizzie’s concerns. I confess that made me a little bit disappointed with him.

Jacob has left Cambridge to work at Bletchley Park. All is secret and he can’t explain what he is doing to his sister. Months ago their mother was considered dead in Poland while evacuating the US embassy. Lizzie is not convinced of her death and she will escape her Gran’s ploy to send her to safety in the US to find Jacob at Bletchley. She is determined to discover the truth even if Jacob is skeptical.

What follows is a streak of riddles left under the guise of newspaper recipes, new friendships, mad dash from embassies receptions, lots of mischiefs from the irreverent but charming Lizzie and a delightful reading experience.

From the author’s notes, I was astonished to discover that they did use very young mathematicians at Bletchley and also people as young as fourteen to run errands and carry messages. Just one character or role seemed to have been totally fictional: Viola, their mom.

If you love:

– historical fiction;

-feisty heroines;

-found family;

-riddles;

This might be your book!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie