ashylibrarian's reviews
975 reviews

This book is a middle-grade masterpiece. The result of a stunning collaboration between Steve Sheinkin, an expert in nonfiction writing, and Ruta Sepetys, a master novelist of historical fiction.

The Bletchley Riddle is a thrilling historical mystery that follows siblings Jakob (19) and Lizzie (14) during the summer of 1940. The Battle of Britain roars on as Hitler's German forces creep closer. Jakob, a brilliant mathematics student, has been called to Bletchley Park to serve on a secret team of top minds in Britain to try and crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher. Meanwhile, Lizzie quite literally jumps ship that is supposed to take her to the United States to continue her investigation for her missing mother and to learn what is happening with her brother. Both must keep secrets from one another as to not get arrested for treason, but when they start receiving mysterious messages, they must determine if the messages are real or a trap to trip them up.

This is a collaboration I knew we needed, and I am so glad it is finally here! I loved diving into a piece of history that isn't much talked about in U.S. WWII curriculums and learning about the brave, brilliant, and resilient young minds that helped to shorten the war by 2 years.

I am always blown away by the writings of Sepetys and Sheinkin and how they seamlessly combined their talents into this novel attests to the brilliance of their work as authors and historians. I hope to see more collaborations between these authors in the future!

This book is a masterpiece written by top authors in the historical genre, both fiction and nonfiction. A historical thriller that takes place in the Summer of 1940 during World War II in Britain, readers follow the duel POVs of 19-year-old Jakob (written by Steve Sheinkin) and his 14-year-old sister, Lizzie (written by Ruta Sepetys). The siblings share a love of riddles and puzzles and soon find themselves trapped inside of one of the biggest puzzles in history – codebreaking at Bletchley Park. Jakob is recruited to be one of the great minds trying to crack the Enigma cipher, and Lizzie takes it upon herself to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother – said to have been killed during the war, but the tale is too suspicious to believe. This book is fast-paced, action-packed, engaging, and bound to draw in readers with a variety of interests and reading levels.

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