“THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE” by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Viking Books for Young Readers, 40 pages, $19).
“You see, I was never the sort who dreamed of running away to join the circus. … But if I’d known there was a place called the Government Code and Cypher School, I’d have begged my mum to send me,” says 19-year-old Jakob Novis. Jakob is half of the talented brother/sister team at the center of “The Bletchley Riddle,” a new novel for middle-grade readers by an equally talented team: award-winning writers Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin.
Set in England during World War II, “The Bletchley Riddle” follows the exploits of Jakob and his 14-year-old sister, Lizzie, as they do their part to win the war, all while searching for information about the recent disappearance of their mother.
While at Cambridge studying mathematics, Jakob is recruited to work at Bletchley Park, Britain’s top-secret cryptography center. Toiling alongside brilliant scholars and mathematicians, including pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, young Jakob is thrilled to be a part of the team. Their mission is to crack the code of the Enigma machine, Germany’s infamous cipher-generating apparatus. “If we did our jobs, we could read their plans,” Jakob says. “Give our boys a fighting chance. That’s all I want to do. Play some small part in punching Hitler in the mouth. Save the world from the Nazis.”
Photo by Rachel Kinney Studios / Ruta SepetysHe is less thrilled when his headstrong sister thwarts their grandmother’s plan to send her to safety in America and ends up his responsibility. Although the siblings have been told that their mother likely died in an explosion, Lizzie refuses to believe she is gone. She vows to follow every lead and run down every clue until she knows the truth — a mission that is not entirely compatible with the heavy shroud of secrecy that, of necessity, hangs over Bletchley Park. Even Lizzie realizes the danger: “I am Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Novis. Despite my good intentions, I often blunder, misstep and stumble. And to be perfectly straightforward, let’s state the obvious: I am the candidate most likely to violate the Official Secrets Act. And I will be convicted of treason when I do.”