Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin team up for this wild ride of a story set at WWII's renowned Bletchley Park. Jakob, a serious 19 year old, and his brash, mischievous little sister, Lizzie, share a penchant for puzzles and riddles…and the pair happens exceptional at solving both. With their parents missing or dead, they're left to fend for themselves. Lizzie gives her chaperon to America the slip and rejoins Jakob, integrating herself into his life and work as a codebreaker at Bletchley and making him rethink everything he knows about their mother's disappearance.

This was an adventure from start to finish and a book my WWII obsessed 3rd grader will be thrilled to read/listen to.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for an advanced copy.

While I typically don't read a lot of middle grade books, The Bletchley Riddle really kept my interest. It was hard to put down, and despite being 400 pages, I felt like I was flying through the book. Lizzie was definitely my favorite of the two protagonists, with a spirit and determination that kept the story exciting. I went into the book with little knowledge about Bletchley Park or the World War II codebreaking efforts, so I enjoyed the insight into such a historically impactful place. We even get to meet some real people who were part of the effort, such as Alan Turing, which gave the story even more validity. I thought the explanations of the Enigma machine were explained in an understandable way, even though it obviously was quite complicated. It was a nice touch that some puzzles/riddles were included in the book, so I could try to solve them along with the characters.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advance review copy of The Bletchley Riddle! All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

Jakob and Lizzie are siblings separated by WWII. With their parents either dead or presumed dead, Lizzie has been sent to live with her American grandmother. The problem was that Lizzie's chaperone on the voyage was not aware of the lengths she would go to stay in Britain. Being a resourceful teen, she figures out where her older brother is staying and makes a surprise appearance. She wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms but anything was better than living with a controlling grandparent.

Lizzie quickly weaves herself into Jakob's life and tags along to his place of employment, Bletchley Park. She is soon hired as a messenger and spends her days running among makeshift "huts" used for top-secret work. Jakob can't even tell her what he's working on because he signed the Secrets Act forbidding him from sharing what he works on.

Thankfully, the reader is privy to those secrets--as well as some of Lizzie's--through their alternating narratives. Lizzie keeps her eyes and ears open and manages to piece together much of what is going on at Bletchley. But she's also got her eyes and ears open to figure out whether their mother may still be alive. When she finds something of her mother's hidden beneath the floor, it bolsters her search.

The Bletchley Riddle was a fascinating read that gives a great introduction to the history of Britain's code-breaking efforts in WWII. I like that the authors also give credit to Poland's inaugural work in the area that helped Britain get off the ground. With historical events mixed in with real historical figures, the book offers educational content alongside the siblings' exciting (and sometimes harrowing) adventures during the war. Lots of interesting characters fill in the backdrop of this middle-grade book. Readers are introduced to mysterious characters and curmudgeonly ones; the thrill of new friendships, and the hint of romance; mentors, and those acting "in loco parentis." But best of all, I loved the growing understanding between Jakob and Lizzie and how they learned to help one another at work and in their search for answers about their parents.

I highly recommend this book for upper elementary and middle grades. It would make an outstanding classroom read-aloud that could encourage rabbit trails of research and exploration regarding the war in general or codebreaking in particular. Readers may be surprised to learn that teens as young as 14 were utilized in codebreaking during the war--very cool to imagine! Hats off to the brave and determined teams that helped shorten the war by intercepting enemy messages!

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Bletchley Riddle from NetGalley for review. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin team up for this wild adventure of a story at at Bletchley Park during World War II. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles…and they are great at solving them. They both end up at Bletchley trying to find their mother.

What a great fun read. It was a constant adventure and I was often nervous for how things would turn out.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for an advanced copy. #TheBletchleyRiddle #NetGalley

This book was so well written! It is a story of a little known operation that played a major role in the allies winning the second world war. It was very well told in a way that middle grade readers can understand it, but it still a really good story. The characters are well written and we feel empathy for them.

Sepetys and Sheinkin have woven an incredibly compelling story that takes a fresh look on WWII. With so many WWII books in the market, I expected this to go over the same information, but the puzzles and codes and the twisting loyalties and not knowing who is good and who is bad and who is right and who is wrong kept me on the edge of my seat. Lizzie is one of my most favorite characters ever and her blunt personality combined with her insatiable curiosity made her such a fun character to read about. I loved how her brother Jakob contrasted her mischievousness with his seriousness and his very much trying to be an adult personality. This is a must-read for fans of middle-grade mysteries and is a great story for igniting conversations about WWII with kids and also sparking conversations about the bravery of kids.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were perfectly different yet similar, each with their own quirks that were utilized during this pivotal moment in history. Jakob and Lizzie were SO good and I believe the book showed the methods and the lives that were impacted during WW2 in a more understandable mode (as the book is more MG, but even as a YA/Adult fan I really did love reading this). Also, the added images truly added to the information. Overall, I would LOVE to read more from this duo, as they are a powerhouse for historical books.

Ruta Sepetys is so great at taking moments in history and making it into a thoroughly entertaining book. Though this one is middle grade vs. her usual YA, it still has all the great elements of a historical fiction book: well researched history, intrigue, action, wonderfully relatable characters. She and Sheinkin have hit this one out of the park.

Sepetys is one of those authors whose books I will read no matter what, I don’t even need to read the synopsis. I know she always delivers, and this book is no exception. I learned quite a bit about the code breakers during WWII, and was able to even have a conversation with my husband, who is a huge WWII buff, about it. I loved the characters in the book, even Gran, which memories of her made me laugh. The world building for WWII was nicely done as well, you really felt like you were there during that awful time frame.

Overall, a great MG book, great for middle grade kids, young adults, and adults alike. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In 1940, England is preparing for the worst as war rages on mainland Europe.

19 year old Jakob Novis is just one of many hoping to stop Hitler in his tracks. His affinity for puzzles has led him to job as a codebreaker at the top secret Bletchley Park. But when his young sister Lizzie arrives with a million theories about the disappearance of their mother, he gets pulled into even more puzzles.

As mysteries mount, Jakob and Lizzie must work together to protect Britain and find the truth about their family.

I am a huge Ruta Sepetys fan and I’ve loved her past historical novels, but this one was not my cup of tea.

I think this book would have been better served if it was written as a YA instead of a middle grade. I did however enjoy the historical aspects of this novel, especially surrounding Bletchley and it’s secrets.


Overall, I think this book has great potential, but is wasn't for me.

Ruth Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin do an incredible job of using fictional characters to bring history to life. Told in the alternating POVs of teenagers Lizzie and Jakob who are trying to locate their mother, this is a fascinating middle grade story about the codebreakers of Bletchley Park in Great Britain during World War II. It’s extremely detailed and obviously well-researched, sprinkled with real-life people and heroes. The story is definitely better known in the UK, and it will be an eye-opener for American young adults who might not be familiar with this story (unless they’ve seen “The Imitation Game,” “Enigma,” or “The Bletchley Circle.”)

It’s a fast-paced mystery and once you start, you’re invested until the end. For anyone with a previous aversion to historical fiction or World War II stories, “The Bletchley Riddle” will convert you to a fan. 4.5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Just some colorless spying eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The English countryside is well-represented and there are more than a few ivy-covered walls.

Thank you to Penguin and Viking Kids and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Many adults are aware of the code-breaking efforts at Bletchley Park during World War II. This book threads that needle for middle grade and young adult readers without losing the adult audience.
Lizzie and Jakob are teenagers found orphaned in London. Jakob is mysteriously employed in something he can't talk about. Lizzy is sure their mother isn't dead, and she needs to stay in England to figure that out.
These siblings are engaging and easy to love. They are resourceful and smart in very different ways. I thought I was done with novels in England during the 1940s, but the fast-paced writing kept me going quickly to the end.

"Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother."

A fantastically written middle grade historical fiction novel set in World War II. This novel is fast paced and captivating, I had a difficult time putting it down. The author clearly did their research as the story was full of details! I was impressed by the character development and the depth of the story.

Thank you Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I typically really like everything I read by Ruta Sepetys, and The Bletchley Riddle was no exception. The subject of Bletchley Park is one that interests me greatly, so it felt like everything I wanted in a book. I loved the brother and sister dynamic of Lizzie and Jakob, and how Lizzie was a bit of a Sherlock Holmes character with Jakob sometimes taking on the role of Watson. It was the perfect balance of urgently serious and lighthearted with the looming Battle of Britain and Lizzie trying to evade her Gran’s henchman. If this book was turned into a series I would read the whole thing.

3.5 stars…….The Bletchley Riddle is a great YA read. When I received an ARC of this book I did not know it was YA until I finished and read some of the reviews. Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin are wonderful storytellers. The book is about code breakers during WW11 and is based on real people and a real place, Bletchley Park, in England. The code breakers are trying to break German codes and help the war effort against Hitler. The two main, fictional characters, Lizzie and Jakob, are siblings who are trying to find their mother, who they have been told died in a bombing in Poland. Lizzie is on a mission to prove this information wrong and convinces her brother to help her. This is a sweet story, with charming characters based on a part of history that I had not heard about before. I enjoyed the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group/ Viking Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was beyond excited to see a novel written by two of my favorite middle-grade authors. Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin are among my favorite historical fiction authors to recommend to adults and children alike. Both authors make history come alive through their well-researched descriptions of settings and dependable character depth. Steve Sheinkin always manages to weave intrigue and humor into his stories, whereas Ruta Septys captures the reader’s heart with the emotion she evokes in her words.

From the first few chapters of Bletchley Riddle, it was clear that everything I’ve come to depend on from Sepetys and Sheinkin had been transferred to this collaboration. The main characters, Lizzie and Jakob, immediately bring intrigue to the story in that their mother, Willa, is missing. Lizzie runs away from her newly enforced guardian, and Jakob undertakes war work as a codebreaker. The suspense builds from the book's first few pages through short chapters with dual POVs and the siblings’ interwoven mysteries. Early on it becomes clear that the siblings need to work together, while their separate trajectories build suspense.

Teachers of WWII will want this in their arsenal for reticent readers, as I imagine this one will capture the attention of many. Riddle loving kids will devour this book in an attempt to decipher codes littered throughout. I wholeheartedly recommend this to lovers of mathematics, mystery, and historical fiction.

Thank you to Penguin Kids and Penguin Teen for a DRC. All opinions are my own.

Review will also be posted on X and the blog listed below closer to publication.

This book is a good middle grade book to introduce young readers to historical fiction. It’s also an enjoyable read as an adult. Lizzie and Jacob who are siblings living in England while it is under attack by Hitler and the Germans. Both are living at a codebreaking center that houses all of the English codebreakers. Jacob is working to crack the Enigma coding machine. Lizzie is running messages between the senior officers and other departments. Lizzie was determined to figure out if their mother was alive and to find her. She discovered that their mother was alive and working as a spy in Poland. This book gives and interesting insight into codebreaking.

Wow! What a wild ride through World War II! The characters in this book were great! So funny! I couldn't put this book down, I just had to know what happened next! You are definitely going to want to read this one!

I have enjoyed every one of Ruta’s fiction books so I had high hopes for this one. And they were met and exceeded!

It is a historical fiction with a mystery at its center. I absolutely adored the characters and thought the riddle was very clever. I could not put this book down!

As always with Ruta’s books the research is thorough and the information is explained in a way that is easy to understand without being watered down. Her books are truly a gift to readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy to read and review.

When I first heard that Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin were teaming up to write a book for middle readers, I was intrigued. When I found out I had received an e-ARC for this book, I was ecstatic! I had no doubt that this duo was going to deliver as there is no one better when it comes to the research and care they put into crafting their stories.

Lizzie and Jakob's story is one of adventure, self-discovery, trust, acceptance, and found family. Sepetys and Sheinkin do a phenomenal job of taking the history of WWII and making it accessible and relevant to middle readers. I can definitely see this book used in classrooms not only to investigate character development and thematic analysis, but also to model for students the intricate ways in which authors can use language to bring voice and life to subjects that feel foreign. The figurative language used throughout the book created a tangible picture in my head while also making me laugh-out-loud several times.

The Bletchley Riddle is an incredible time-machine which allows readers to discover not only more about WWII but more about themselves as well.

I loved this. I am fascinated by the world of codebreakers so I jumped on the opportunity to read this, and it was so good. I love how much true information is in the book, how some real people who made a difference are portrayed accurately and I feel like the story is believable.

I love the alternating chapters between the two siblings and how they are very different and coping with everything differently. I loved the riddle solving, the mystery, the friendships, and how close they are at the end. This is a fantastic middle grade group and I can’t wait to buy my daughter her own copy to read, I think she will love it.