Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II by Candace Fleming

Enigma Girls offers a unique perspective on WWII and the often-overlooked contributions of women during wartime.

My recent fascination with Bletchley Park and the Enigma machine was further fueled by the true stories within these pages.

The women recruited to Bletchley Park were young, most between ages 17-20, and from many different backgrounds.

Theseyoung women worked long, hard hours and contributed significantly to the war effort.

In fact, many historians have said their heroic efforts may have shortened the war by two to four years.

But for years, the work at Bletchley Park was classified and the girls were never allowed to talk about the work that they did.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that the British Government declassified documents about Bletchley Park.

Many of the girls wrote about their work after it was declassified and the author does a good job of giving us insights into their day-to-day lives and work.

In the 1990s, a small group of independent history lovers saved Bletchley Park from ruin and restored it as a museum.

After reading my third book about Bletchley Park and Enigma machines, I might be a little obsessed and hope to add this to my bucket list of places to visit!

For those of you who enjoyed this book, I wholeheartedly recommend the adult Historical Fiction The Rose Codeby Kate Quinn, particularly the audio version.

Additionally, the movies “The Imitation Game” and “Operation Mincemeat” are very entertaining with different perspectives from your typical war movie. Happy reading and watching!

Check out our Top 75 Books for Middle Grade for a whole list of great MG books.