# Code Name Verity

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2012 novel by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity Cover of the 2012 Electric Monkey UK edition. Author Elizabeth E. Wein Language English Genre Young adult fiction Historical fiction Thriller Publisher Hyperion Books Publication date May 15, 2012 Publication place United States Media type Print (Hardcover) Pages 451 ISBN 978-1423152194 OCLC 748286341 LC Class PZ7.W4358 Cp 2012 Preceded by The Pearl Thief Followed by Rose Under Fire

***Code Name Verity*** is a [young adult](/source/Young_adult_fiction) [historical fiction](/source/Historical_fiction) novel by [Elizabeth Wein](/source/Elizabeth_Wein) published in 2012. It focuses on the friendship between two young British women in [World War II](/source/World_War_II): a spy captured by Nazis in German-occupied France and the pilot who took her there. It was named a [Michael L. Printz Honor Book](/source/Michael_L._Printz_Award) in 2013, and shortlisted for the [Carnegie Medal](/source/Carnegie_Medal_(literary_award)).

A loose sequel, *[Rose Under Fire](/source/Rose_Under_Fire)*, was published in 2013. A prequel novel, *The Pearl Thief*, was published in May 2017; it is a mystery involving *Code Name Verity*'s protagonist Julie a year before the war starts.[1]

## Plot

In 1943 Nazi-occupied France, a British [Lysander](/source/Westland_Lysander) spy plane crashes in the fictional town of Ormaie. On board are two best friends, a pilot (Maddie, code name: Kittyhawk) and a spy (Julie, code name: Verity). The latter is soon captured by Nazi authorities, detained in a former hotel, and forced to write a confession detailing the British war effort, which she decides to write in the form of a novel.

Through her confession, she tells the story of her friendship with Maddie, the pilot, and how she came to enter France in the first place. In the second part of the plot, the story is told from Maddie's point of view, and reveals the events that transpired after the plane crash that left both women in France, and her plan to find Verity and bring her back home.

In the end, Maddie kills Julie to prevent her from being tortured or sent to [Natzweiler-Struthof](/source/Natzweiler-Struthof) as a specimen for medical experiments. After that, Maddie receives Julie's confession from Engel, a chemist at the hotel who has had a crisis of conscience, and she and the French Resistance use Engel’s information to blow up the hotel, which the Nazis also use as their center of operations. After that, Maddie escapes to England.

## Critical reception

*Code Name Verity* received critical acclaim. *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* praised it as "a fiendishly plotted mind game of a novel, the kind you have to read twice",[2] and *[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews)* called it a "carefully researched, precisely written tour de force".[3] *Code Name Verity* is one of five young adult novels published in 2012 to receive starred reviews in all six trade journals.[4]

The novel won the 2013 [Michael L. Printz Honor Book](/source/Michael_L._Printz_Award),[5] the [Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel](/source/List_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe_Award_for_Best_Young_Adult_Novel_winners), and the [Golden Kite Honor](/source/Golden_Kite_Award) in 2013. It was also shortlisted for the [Carnegie Medal](/source/Carnegie_Medal_(literary_award)).[6]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Wein pens 'Code Name Verity' prequel | The Bookseller"](http://www.thebookseller.com/news/wein-pens-code-name-verity-prequel-398436). *The Bookseller*. September 21, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Ingall, Marjorie (May 11, 2012). ["The Pilot and the Spy"](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/books/review/code-name-verity-by-elizabeth-wein.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved July 3, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["CODE NAME VERITY"](http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-wein/code-name-verity/). Kirkus Reviews. February 15, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Winn, Whitney. ["Starred YA Book Reviews 2012"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170519110635/http://www.youthservicescorner.com/starred-ya-book-reviews/starred-ya-book-reviews-2012/). *Youth Services Corner*. Archived from [the original](http://www.youthservicescorner.com/starred-ya-book-reviews/starred-ya-book-reviews-2012/) on May 19, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Printz Award 2013"](http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award-2013). [American Library Association](/source/American_Library_Association). January 27, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist for 2013"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174528/http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2013awards/carnegie_shortlist.php). CILIP. Archived from [the original](http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2013awards/carnegie_shortlist.php) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2015.

Authority control databases Open Library

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