Review of The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

The Bletchley Riddle

by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Viking, 2024. 394 pages.
Review written January 2, 2025, from my own copy, sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review
2024 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #5 More Children’s Fiction

I quickly read this book at the end of 2024, after finishing my reading for the Cybils Awards, because I had a strong suspicion it would end up making my Sonderbooks Stand-outs list, and I didn’t want to wait a year. For one thing, it’s about code-breaking at Bletchley Park during World War II, and for another, two stellar writers collaborated on it. Ruta Sepetys specializes in detailed historical fiction, and Steve Sheinkin writes engaging historical nonfiction. Both have won numerous awards for their work.

This is the year for World War II books! I was glad I read this book after reading Candace Fleming’s nonfiction The Enigma Girls, because that gave the nonfiction side of what happened at Bletchley Park, outside of London – a top secret code-breaking operation with many, many different aspects. The Bletchley Riddle fictionalizes that story and gives us a 19-year-old brother Jakob working at Bletchley Park with his 14-year-old sister Lizzie.

The story is engaging – pulling us into real-life spy work. It begins in 1940, before Britain has been pulled into war with Germany, but when they are expecting it. And the book opens with half-American Lizzie giving her chaperone the slip. She leaves him on a ship bound for America, while she escapes her rich American grandmother’s plans and shows up at the address in London where her brother has been receiving mail. Receiving mail, but never answering it.

Their mother had worked for the American embassy, but recently traveled to Poland and was there when the Germans attacked. She did not return, so she’s been presumed dead – but Lizzie doesn’t believe it for a minute. When she’s offered a messenger job at Bletchley Park, where Jakob is working, she hopes that being on the scene she might get leads on what has become of her mother.

Now, after reading The Enigma Girls, it felt a little unrealistic that Jakob would have any idea what was going on in other parts of the estate, but it’s not like they gave away a whole lot. I also had a hard time believing 14-year-old Lizzie would be hired as a messenger, taking messages between buildings – but the authors specifically mention in a historical note that Bletchley Park in fact hired messengers as young as 14.

But the story does put in details about how the team at Bletchley made breakthroughs in decoding German messages – including using a replica enigma machine smuggled out of Poland by three mathematicians. The details of the codebreaking were really fun, and we’ve got an additional mystery of what happened to Jakob and Lizzie’s mother. Oh, and Lizzie also wants to continue to thwart her grandmother’s plans to send her to America, so she has to elude the chaperone more than once. There are actual historical characters sprinkled throughout the story, and I loved a diversion involving Alan Turing, which the Historical Note tells us is completely based in truth.

Now, I did wonder if MI6 really would have been suspicious of folks working at Bletchley Park. There’s a shadowy character surveilling Lizzie and Jakob because of their mother, which almost felt like one thread too many, but I think in a middle grade novel this simply ups the suspense.

I did have a hard time deciding how to rank this book on my Stand-outs against Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz, and on another day, this one might have come out ahead. They were both about puzzles and spy activities in London. Max has more of a feel of the children’s classic The Great Brain and also addressed anti-Semitism in Britain at the time, but it felt a touch less believable. (I think Max was 12 – would they really let him be a spy?) And this one was simply full of authentic historical details – I just thought the puzzles were a little more fun for the reader in Max. (And remember, Sonderbooks Stand-outs are not chosen based on literary merit, but simply on how much I enjoyed the reading experience.) Bottom line, this is a wonderful spy novel for middle grade readers, full of cool spy problems and firmly rooted in historical fact.

RutaSepetys.com
SteveSheinkin.com

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Review of Spin, by Rebecca Caprara

Fantasy, Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

Spin

by Rebecca Caprara

Atheneum, 2023. 393 pages.
Review written April 11, 2023, from a library book.

I did it again! I checked out a book from a list of young adult debut novels — but forgot to check the flap copy until I was halfway through the book. It turns out, it is not the author’s first book, only her first young adult book. So it is not, in fact, eligible for the Morris Award. (Those have to be the author’s first traditionally published book, period.) Although I don’t feel like I have time to read books that are not eligible, by that time I was fully invested and wanted to finish the story. So all’s well that ends well. I’m glad I got to read this book.

Spin is a novel in verse about Arachne, the mortal girl who was an expert weaver and got turned into a spider by Athena because she dared to boast that she was a better weaver than Athena — or that’s how the myth goes. In this book, Arachne gives us her real story.

It turns out that after many unanswered prayers, Arachne lost respect for the gods. And her mother told her stories of gods taking advantage of and raping human women. As Arachne practiced and built her skill, she dared to tell those stories in her tapestries.

So these aren’t simply verses about a mythical tale, but also a story of standing up to the patriarchy and daring to challenge those who oppressed the vulnerable. The writing is indeed poetry, weaving pictures with words.

rebeccacaprara.com

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Review of Isla to Island, by Alexis Castellanos

Children's Fiction Review, Graphic Novel, Historical, Starred Review 0

Isla to Island

by Alexis Castellanos

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022. 192 pages.
Review written September 20, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Isla to Island is a historical graphic novel about a young Cuban girl named Marisol who gets sent to New York City as part of Operation Peter Pan in 1960, an operation to rescue children of Cubans who feared they would be imprisoned under Castro for their political beliefs, and their children with them.

The graphic novel story is mostly done with pictures, and it’s beautifully done. Scenes of Marisol in Cuba with her family are bright and colorful. The only text (and there’s not a lot) is in Spanish, including a rooster that crows, “Qui qui ri qui.” Already in Cuba, we see that Marisol loves flowers and books.

When she says a sad good-by to her parents, she lands in a New York City that is cold and gray and in the middle of winter. Her caretakers there are kind, but the colors are gone. At school, people laugh at her, and she doesn’t understand what the teacher is saying and gets failing grades.

But then she discovers the library. Books are the first things that are full of color, so much so that streams of color waft from them. And through the books she chooses, her caretakers discover her love of flowers and bring her to the greenhouse in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where she sees familiar flowers from Cuba.

The graphic novel is great at visually representing Marisol’s dawning hope. An Author’s Note at the back explains about Operation Peter Pan and the author’s family connections to Marisol’s story.

This is a quick read with so much presented visually, so a short time spent gives you a lovely and uplifting story.

alexiscastellanos.com
simonandschuster.com/kids

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Review of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 7, by Beth Brower

Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 7

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2023. 302 pages.
Review written August 27, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review

Alas! I’ve read all the volumes of Emma M. Lion’s Unselected Journals currently available, so now I will have to wait for Beth Brower to write more. On her website, she says she’s treating this series like a television series with successive seasons (a year’s worth of journals), and there are a few more seasons to go. You’ll notice the volumes are getting longer. When I picked up the first one, it was a quick read, so I thought nothing of quickly consuming the first few volumes. Now there are more pages, which I’m glad of, because I’m well and truly hooked, and I like spending more time in Emma’s world.

For those I haven’t yet convinced to give these books a try, yes, you should read them, and also yes, you should start at the beginning. I’ll just give tidbits from this volume to let you know I continue to be enthralled with Emma, her friends, and the other quirky characters she encounters.

I’ve mentioned that I appreciate the friendship portrayed between Emma and three very different single gentlemen. By this volume, Emma and one of them are considering whether they should dare pursue a relationship. But at the same time, something accidentally happens to potentially cause a scandal involving Emma and another of them. One must consider appearances in 1884 London!

Emma is also still trying to make her Aunt Eugenia believe she has a strict chaperone, and she prepares to help Aunt Eugenia’s daughter, the beautiful Arabella, find the most suitable partner of Aunt Eugenia’s choosing during the upcoming Season. All while Emma is trying to ward off the man whom Aunt Eugenia will then allow to marry Emma.

It’s all told with lots of humor and wit, a big dose of mysterious secrets, and with the gossips of St. Crispian’s beginning to take note. Emma came of age in the last volume, but can she indeed keep her independence? The back of the book promises the next volume “soon,” and it had just better be true!

[Update: Volume 8 is promised in December 2024! Hooray!]

bethbrower.com

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Review of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 6, by Beth Brower

Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 6

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2022. 235 pages.
Review written August 21, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review

I am so hooked on these books! I had made plans to try to pace myself, but when I finished this book, which ended on a dramatic note, I picked up the next book immediately to see how that situation resolved – only to learn they didn’t discuss it the very next day, as planned. I am going to go into withdrawal when I finish the seventh volume – the last one currently published. But then I’ll be able to binge as each new volume comes out.

So – because this is an ongoing series and you really should start at the beginning, I’ll try to tell what’s so much fun about this volume without giving away spoilers. Our heroine, Emma M. Lion comes of age (21) in Volume 6, so she now officially owns Lapis Lazuli House. But because of her nefarious cousin spending her money, she needs to find work. She tries a personal secretary position in this volume (January through February 1884) – with hilariously disastrous results, such as could only happen to Emma Lion.

She does continue the inspiring, enlightening, and cordial friendship with three very different gentlemen – and at last we get rumblings of romance where I had most expected it. Will this change things? That’s why I’m reading on. All three men are men of mystery, with fascinating revelations about each one slowly coming to light.

Meanwhile, her friend Pierce is expected to contribute more to the St. Crispian’s neighborhood, her friendship with Islington wins her some social points, Young Hawkes continues to materialize where he is most needed, her friend Mary is showing signs of falling in love, and she has interesting conversations with the artist Saffronia and even with Mrs. Penury, who never says a word. It’s all quirky and fun and I am definitely hooked.

bethbrower.com

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Review of Noodles on a Bicycle, by Kyo Maclear & Gracey Zhang

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Noodles on a Bicycle

written by Kyo Maclear
illustrated by Gracey Zhang

Random House Studio, 2024. 36 pages.
Review written October 4, 2024, from my own copy, sent to me by the publisher.
Starred Review

I was completely surprised how charmed I was by this picture book. Here’s the beginning:

When the deliverymen set off in the morning
we sit outside
and watch
and wait
for the flicker of pedal and wheel.

It turns out the deliverymen are delivering orders of sobaya noodles from the Old Sobaya shop downtown.

When the orders are ready,
the deliverymen arrive
and stack the ceramic soup bowls and wooden soba boxes.
One tray on top of another.
On top of another.

Then they take off.

We watch them balancing towers on their shoulders.
An arm holding things steady
as their bicycle tires bump, bounce, settle, swoosh.

The story and illustrations are all about these elaborate tall towers, balanced while riding a bike. It turns out that the deliverymen from the New Sobaya shop compete with those from the Old Sobaya shop to see who can make “the tallest and fanciest stack.” And the children themselves get in on the action, trying to pile up their own plates and bowls and ride a bike – with not so excellent results. (But all in good fun, and encouragement from the deliverymen.)

As the day wears on, the children wonder if the deliverymen get tired. Do they dream of noodles all night? And then where I am really charmed is that when the kids’ mother orders noodles from the Old Sobaya shop, the deliveryman who brings them is Papa.

The book finishes up warm and cozy, eating noodles, being tucked into bed, and the parents setting out the clean dishes for Papa as deliveryman to take away with him in the morning.

It’s all just so charming and lovely. What child wouldn’t like to read about a papa who balances towers of dishes while riding a bike? And the Author’s Note at the back tells us this is based on what she saw in her childhood summers in Tokyo and the actual deliverymen who biked on the streets there from the 1930s to the 1970s. A couple of old photographs on the endpapers confirm that the illustrator was, amazingly, not exaggerating. Just a lovely book.

kyomaclear.com
graceyzhang.com

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Review of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 5, by Beth Brower

Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 5

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2021. 251 pages.
Review written August 1, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com.
Starred Review

With each volume of these “Unselected Journals” I read, I get more and more obsessed. When I finished volume 5, I was sad that I only currently own two more volumes. (She’s writing more, though!)

This is historical fiction about a young woman in London in 1883, in this volume from November to December. She’s on the periphery of society, an orphan who’s going to come into her inheritance next month, but who still is supposed to act like a proper young lady – something she gets away with fudging.

But these books are way more than a simple romance novel. I love the deep friendships she is building with no less than three young single gentlemen. In this volume, Emma is dealing with having finally attended the burial of the man she’d loved, who died three years ago in Afghanistan. She read his good-by letter, and it’s hard to move on. All her friends – including those three men – are extra kind and compassionate toward her in this book.

And with that serious note, the book also has all sorts of humorous and quirky bits throughout. Emma is trying to track the Roman ghost that frequents her neighborhood – and gets reactions from everyone who knows about it. She delivers the second favor she owes to the scoundrel Jack, and it’s surprising. Her friend the artist comes back from Italy, and her friend Mary has more adventures in London – so it’s not like Emma hangs around only with young men. I also love Agnes, Emma’s cook and housekeeper, who in this volume wants to get into the St. Crispian’s Society for Senior Servants. And then there’s the marvelous Mrs. Penury, who has decided that she’s got nothing more to say, and keeps delightful company with people in complete silence.

The fact that these are presented as journals makes the episodic bits completely believable and fun. I’ve always loved a slow-burn romance. But watching Emma’s friendships grow and deepen with three different young men over time takes this to the next level. My only trouble at this point is I don’t want any of them to get their hearts broken. But I’m for sure looking forward to watching things continue.

I’m going to try to read another book before I eagerly pick up the next volume, but I’m making no promises.

bethbrower.com

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Review of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 4, by Beth Brower

Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 4

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2021. 191 pages.
Review written July 27, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review

Oh, how I love Emma Lion! I have to again thank my sister Becky for introducing me, but this volume 4 is the first one I purchased on my own after Becky gifted me the first three. It’s pretty sneaky – each volume is only about 200 pages long, so you think it won’t take you any time at all, but then you find yourself reaching for the next book as soon as you finish. I’d forced myself to read a book in between Volumes 3 and 4, but I’ve had enough of that and will be picking up Volume 5 tonight. By the time I’ve finished all seven volumes I currently own, I’ll have read more than a thousand pages – all in bite-size pieces.

Emma M. Lion is a twenty-year-old young lady of St. Crispian’s region in London, and this set of her journals covers September 1, 1883, to October 31. And yes, St. Crispian’s has some interesting traditions for All Saint’s Eve.

I said after Volume 1 that I wasn’t sure whom Emma is going to end up marrying, but by now I have hopes. However, this book is remarkable in that it portrays a young lady building a solid and wonderful friendship with three eligible young men at the same time – and those men are friends with each other.

In this volume her aunt is out of town, so Emma’s freed up from most social engagements, though plans are still going for her cousin’s upcoming Season in which she is to get six or seven offers of marriage, according to the plan. But meanwhile, the scoundrel Jack takes her up on her side of the bargain she made, with amusing and slightly scandalous results. But as the book ends, her friends help her deal with the burial of her lost love’s remains, when his family gets those back from Afghanistan. The poignancy of that part carried the book far beyond the wit and situational comedy of so much of the journals.

I won’t say much because yes, you have to start with Volume 1. But yes, this saga will pull you in and delight you.

bethbrower.com

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Review of Escaping Mr. Rochester, by L. L. McKinney

Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

Escaping Mr. Rochester

by L. L. McKinney

HarperTeen, 2024. 337 pages.
Review written September 4, 2024, from a library book.

If you’ve read my reviews for very long, you probably know that I love retellings and reimaginings. My favorites are the ones where you think, “Oh! That could be what *really* happened!” — telling the same events from a different perspective that casts things in a whole new light.

Now, I also have to confess that as a teen, Jane Eyre was one of my all-time favorite novels. Yes, as a romance. Coming back to it as an adult, especially with the help of retellings, I’m a little horrified by that opinion.

Escaping Mr. Rochester was a reimagining of Jane Eyre, not a retelling. A whole lot of details were changed, but the skeleton of the story was the same. Our main character is Jane Eyre, coming to be a governess to the young ward of Mr. Rochester at Thornfield Hall. Unbeknownst to Jane, Mr. Rochester has locked up his wife Bertha, and is keeping her in the attic, with the help of an elderly servant tending her. Jane hears strange noises that everyone else denies.

All that big picture is the same as in Jane Eyre, but very few of the details match. The Mr. Rochester of this book is simply a villain, through and through. And something of a cardboard one. His motivation for everything he does is to pay gambling debts. Jane is repulsed from the moment she sees him. She finds out about Bertha fairly early on, and the two of them manage to spend time together, lay plans (to escape, of course) – and fall in love. Of course, plans in a house ruled by such a villain don’t always run smoothly.

Don’t get me wrong – the story is a whole lot of fun. I would have enjoyed a few more nods to original. Like meeting Mr. Rochester when he falls from his horse. And him being somewhat more charming to Jane to start, maybe. Of course, I admire in this Jane that she’s not in a hurry to cozy up to her employer and has a great concept of what’s appropriate in that situation. But part of the power of the original is that you really can see how a sheltered Jane would fall for him. This Mr. Rochester was pretty one-dimensional in his evil. Adele, too, in this version didn’t consistently act or talk like a child.

So this book is not up there with my absolute favorite Jane Eyre spin-off, Reader, I Murdered Him, which has the events of the book all happen as portrayed, but show us Adele after she’s grown up and sent to boarding school. And that one shows a more subtly sinister Mr. Rochester.

However, all that said – this was a fun story, using the basic skeleton of Jane Eyre to show us Jane and Bertha outwitting an evil and contemptible Mr. Rochester and ultimately triumphing over him. And yes, there’s an appropriate use of fire.

llmckinney.com
epicreads.com

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Review of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 3, by Beth Brower

Fiction Review, Historical 0

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion

Volume 3

by Beth Brower

Rhydon Press, 2020. 217 pages.
Review written July 16, 2024, from my own copy, a birthday gift.
Starred Review

Again, I first have to thank my sister Becky for giving me these delightful books for my birthday. I was a little dismayed when I realized it wasn’t a 3-volume work, but more of a serial – indeed like a journal. But the good side of that is that the fun doesn’t end soon!

Volume 3 is thicker. It covers two months, like the others, this time July 1st through August 31st, 1883. In this volume a new sort of subplot was introduced — revealing another quirk of St. Crispian’s. It turns out that every July 15, a secret performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is performed – and those who want to attend must follow a series of clues in order to win tickets. Emma and the odious Cousin Archibald (who lives in her home at Lapis Lazuli House) become temporary allies in order to obtain the prize. But alas! There is a disaster with repercussions that last the rest of the book.

And while this is going on, Emma finds out more about the Mysterious Tenant. She attends parties to be a foil for her cousin Arabella, some of them being tedious and some frightfully interesting. She deals with the scoundrel Jack, her friend Mary’s fake cousin. And she’s in more interesting situations with intriguing people.

And as the volumes go on, I really shouldn’t say too much about each one, because I don’t want to give spoilers from what’s gone before. This isn’t exactly a Jane Austen read-alike, because Emma is far too unconventional and interested in so much more than finding a man. (Oh, and she’s in London about 75 years after Jane Austen’s heroines.) But I can safely say that if you love Jane Austen’s books, chances are good you’ll love Emma M. Lion as well.

bethbrower.com

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