Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/01/2024 *Starred Review* Two powerhouse authors collaborate on an enormously entertaining, expertly researched WWII novel with broad appeal. The adventure begins when Lizzie, 14, gives her chaperone the slip and sets out to join her brother in London. Jakob, 19, is actually at Bletchley Park. It is May 1940, and he has joined the “most worthwhile game,” the effort to break Germany’s Enigma codes. Time is of the essence if they are to foil Hitler’s invasion of England, but Lizzie needs Jakob’s help to solve a more personal puzzle—finding their mother. Their Jewish British father died nine years earlier, and now their mother, an American, is missing and presumed dead while on an embassy assignment in Poland. Jakob withdraws into his work, while Lizzie throws herself into uncovering the truth. The siblings narrate in short, alternating chapters that propel the reader forward. Daily life at the Park is intriguing and mysterious: an MI5 spy lurks on its edges, making cryptic threats, and secret messages appear in Lizzie’s lodgings, begging to be deciphered. The authors successfully blend genuine suspense, sibling relationship issues, and humorous hijinks to create a tone both heartfelt and playful. Lizzie is a star—precocious, bossy, daring, and willing to risk everything for her family and new friends. Perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, this is an excellent fictional companion to Candace Fleming’s The Enigma Girls (2024). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Both masters of their craft, Sepetys and Sheinkin's collaboration will draw fiction and nonfiction fans, not to mention a code-breaking coterie. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.