Spotlight on Elizabeth Wein

Recently, I read two amazing books.  I started by picking up Code Name Verity at the local library (I love historical fiction).  When I found out that Elizabeth Wein was coming out with another book in the series I had to get my hands on a copy of it (thank you Netgalley!).  It was well worth it.  Strong female characters, glimpses into history, intriguing story lines, what more could you want? 

Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein
Ages: 15-18 years old
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Thriller

  

Summary via Goodreads:

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

Review: 

Through the writings of Maddie and Julia the reader the story unfolds of these two strong girls and their involvement in the war.  To be honest, I was bored through the first part of the book.  There was a lot of details about flying planes and the role of the ATA in the war.  Interesting facts, but they don't make much of a book.  BUT, then it happens--the twist in the story line, and just as you are about to give up on the book you suddenly cannot read it fast enough and it is ending too soon.  I was so glad I kept reading though this book because the rest of the book is worth it.  Maddie and Julia make for strong characters who give the reader an idea of what it was like to be involved in World War II.  I appreciated that it presented a different viewpoint of the war than the typical one of concentration camps and hiding from the Nazis.  Although those stories are important to history, presenting a different side of the story might help to capture a reader who does not typically read historical fiction.

Rose Under Fire

Author: Elizabeth Wein
Ages: 15-18 years
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction

Summary via Goodreads:

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.

Review:

I was unsure what to expect from this book. I was pleasantly surprised to have Maddie reappear in this book in a minor role.  However, this book was very different from Verity.  While Verity was about the involvement in war, this was the typical book on the horrors of Nazi concentration camps while prisoners cling to hope and fight to survive.  The characters in the book are strong, yet honest and portray raw emotions based on what they are forced to go through.  I have always been horrified, yet felt the need to be aware of what took place.  While the book is based on fictional characters, the book in a way tells the story of people who once were real and had to endure the atrocities that the book depicts.  It is the mix of fact and fiction, combined with hope that moves the story forward so that you cannot put the book down until you hear Rose's story.