The Bletchley Riddle

Gr 6-10–Despite their relative newness to audiobooks, Hill and Jane are superb ciphers for English teen siblings Jakob (19) and Lizzie (14), respectively, in dual powerhouse Sepetys and Sheinkin’s first collaboration. Opening in May 1940, their skillfully entertaining novel unfurls in efficacious he said/she said bursts. Hill is an astutely cautious Jakob: “a Cambridge man [who] belongs to the cardigan corps of mathematicians,” plucked by Bletchley Park to help break Germany’s Enigma codes. Jane is a tirelessly tenacious Lizzie who repeatedly manages to foil their American grandmother’s efforts to ship her stateside and joins Jakob at Bletchley as an insightful messenger. While Jakob struggles to accept their mother’s likely death, Lizzie absolutely refuses to give up her stealthy search.