Terry Pratchett

About the Author

Elizabeth Wein, the author of Code Name Verity, didn't find immediate success. In fact, Code Name Verity was really the book that put this author on the map in terms of great literature. Before the great success of this book, Wein had written five other books set in Arthurian Britain and sixth century Ethiopia: The Winter Prince (2003), A Coalition of Lions (2003), The Sunbird (2004), The Lion Hunter (2007), and The Empty Kingdom (2008). Wein has since written Rose Under Fire, a novel that has been received with similar critical acclaim as Code Name Verity.

Wein was born in October 1964 in New York City. When she was just three years old, her family moved to England due to her father's job. Only three years later, when Wein was six, the family moved again to Jamaica. In 1973, Wein's parents divorced, and Wein moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with her mother.

Wein studied at Yale University and later received her PhD in Folklore at the University of Philadelphia. It was in Philadelphia that Wein met her husband, Tim Gatland, at a bell-ringers dinner dance. The couple moved to Scotland in 2000. Wein got her pilot's license in 2003, and she has flown all over the world, including the United States, Kenya, England, and Scotland.

Elizabeth Wein's website is: www.elizabethwein.com

Khaled Hosseini

Awards and Reviews

I can give many reasons why I believe Code Name Verity is a worthy read. The history and themes the novel provides alone makes it a credible trade book in a secondary classroom. Furthermore, the awards and reviews the novel received should be enough to seal the deal on whether the book is worth your time. The awards obviously show the success of the novel, but it is the reviews that I feel are the most important. Students can compare their own conclusions with the opinions of professionals and the common public. From there they can decide how much credit they should offer to critics, keeping in mind that many refer to critic reviews before choosing a book to read.

The awards Code Name Verity received are:

• UK Literary Association Award Winner
• Edgar Award for Best Young Adult
• Printz Honor Book
• Boston Globe/Horn Book Awards Honor Book
• Golden Kite Award Honor Book
• Scottish Children's Book Award Nominee
• Catalyst Book Award (East Lanarkshire County Council, Scotland
• School LIbrary Journal Best Book of the Year (2012)
• Agatha Award Nominee for Best Children's/Young Adult Novel
• Carnegie Medal in Literature Nominee
• Amazon Best Books of the Year for Teen Fiction (2012)
• YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Amelia Bloomer Book List for Young Adult Fiction
• North East Teenage Book Award Nominee

Reviews:

One of the first reviews completed after the publishing of Code Name Verity was the New York Times. Marjorie Ingall gave a fair summary of the complicated plot with concomitant feelings of excitement and admiration. Ingall says, "Code Name Verity...is a fiendishly plotted mind game of a novel...you force yourself to slow down, but you don't want to, because you're terrified these beautiful, vibrant characters are doomed." Her positive and sparkling review ends, "A smart book about the power of female friendship is like finding Neverland."

Laura Miller of Salon gives a similar account of the novel. After a fairly in-depth summary of Code Name Verity, Miller says, "Wein has written a puzzle novel whose cleverness never overwhelms its spirit and heart." Miller continues to praise Wein's gift for writing a puzzle plot and making a historical novel enjoyable.

I highly suggest you get on Goodreads (whether you have an account or not) and look at the reader reviews for this novel. They are the truest type of reviews from the common public you are likely to find. People who write these reviews do not feel any type of public pressure to complete a biased or vague critique, so rest assured that you are getting their true opinion. Also, the sheer number of reviews should be enough to convince you of the public's combined opinion.

Imagination Under Threat

Neil Gaiman's (coauthor of Good Omens) take on books, libraries, and imagination.

Referenced

While reading Code Name Verity, I am sure you noticed the many references to songs and literary works Wein made in her writing. Queenie is well-versed in literature, so she quotes several different texts. I have compiled all of the works mentioned in Code Name Verity for your leisure. If you are a student, perhaps you would like to see the works that influenced Queenie. Maybe you would like to view them just to satisfy your curiosity. If you are a teacher, this list will provide a background for the novel as well as develop a better understanding of some of the complex ideas of Code Name Verity.

I have provided a link within each work that leads to a website explaining the work. Also, keep in mind that Code Name Verity takes place in 1943, so all of the referenced works were written before that time.

1. The Last Time I Saw Paris- Ann Sothern, 1941
2.  Dream a Little Dream of Me- Oswald George “Ozzie” Nelson, 1931
3. Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave)- Felix Mendelssohn, 1830
4. Lord Nelson Mass- Franz Joseph Haydn, 1798
5. Peter Pan- J. M. Barrie, 1902
6. A Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)- composed by various authors across Asia and North Africa, Islamic Golden Age (mid-8^th century-1258)
7. Kim- Rudyard Kipling, 1901
8. Macbeth- William Shakespeare, 1611
9. Romeo and Juliet- William Shakespeare, 1597
10.  A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens, 1859
11.  Down and Out in Paris and London- George Orwell, 1933
12.  “Tam o’Shanter”- Robert Burns, 1791
13. Kidnapped- Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886
14. A Little Princess- Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1905
15. The Silence of the Sea- Jean Bruller (pseudonym Vercors), 1942
16. Narcissus and Goldmund- Hermann Hesse, 1930
17. Faust- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1806
18. "The Waste Land"- T. S. Elliot, 1922

The Kite Runner-The Movie

I hope that after reading The Kite Runner, you are filled with overwhelming amount of emotion. Perhaps you feel wonder, sorrow, hope, or even anger. More than anything, I hope that you feel the absolute need to know more. A book is just words on pages if one cannot connect to the spirit of the story. Movie producers, anyway, noticed the outstanding success of the bestseller and purchased the screening rights of the book. Directed by Marc Forster, the movie premiered in 2007. The Kite Runner won The Satellite Award for Best Original Score and BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actor, but was granted mix reviews. For instance, Manohla Dargis of the New York Times says, "Mr. Forster never makes you believe in these children or their woes" while the National Board of Review named The Kite Runner as one of the top ten films of 2007. I encourage you to check out The Kite Runner and decide for yourself if the movie is worthy of the book.

In case you're curious, here is a list of the cast of The Kite Runner:

Zekeria Ebrahimi- Young Amir

Khalid Abdalla- Amir

Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada- Hassan

Homayoun Ershadi- Baba

Shaun Toub- Rahim Khan

Elham Ehsas- Assef

Ali Danish Bakhtyari- Sohrab

Atossa Leoni- Soraya

Lastly, here is the movie trailer for The Kite Runner: