shighley's review
5.0
Well-done picture book with the right balance of text, illustrations, and back matter. I had never heard of her, yet she was born in my home state and was even a principal for a brief time here. There are several opportunities for readers to "crack some codes," and it was explained without being too complex.
daisey's review
4.0
This is a great biography of Elizebeth Friedman for young readers. She worked as a code breaker through both World War I and World War II and developed the CIA's first cryptology unit. I listened to the audio and then looked up sample pages to view the style of illustrations. The audio was well done, but I would recommend the book for the full experience of the illustrations as well.
Audio duration: 42 minutes
*I received an audiobook of this book through the Libro.fm ALC program for educators.
Audio duration: 42 minutes
*I received an audiobook of this book through the Libro.fm ALC program for educators.
libraryrobin's review
3.0
Good picture book bio of a brilliant woman who helped win two wars, defeated bootleggers, and created and led the first cryptology office in the OSS.
backonthealex's review
4.0
This picture book for older readers tells the story of a remarkable woman who developed new code- making and breaking techniques, helped capture bootleggers, and even managed to catch a few Nazi spies.
When she was a child, Elizabeth Smith loved poetry and Shakespeare was her favorite author. She appreciated the structure and patterns she noticed in his poetry. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth graduated college in 1915 with a degree in English Lit, but she also studied Latin, Greek, and German.
Looking for a job in Chicago, Elizabeth was introduced to George Fabyan, a wealthy eccentric Shakespeare fan who invited her to become part of a group of researchers on his estate, Riverbank, who were looking for proof that Francis Bacon was the real writer of Shakespeare's plays. Her job was to look for secret messages left by Bacon in the plays. Who knew this job would eventually lead to Elizabeth's helping to capture Nazi spies?
Well, Elizabeth never found any coded messages but she did find friendship in the person of William Friedman, a scientist. The two friends spent part of their time together devising secret notes and challenging each other to decode them. Soon, they were in love and married.
When the United States entered WWI in 1917, Riverbank was converted to a code-breaking unit called the Riverbank Department of Ciphers. Elizabeth, William, and their cipher staff set about decoding enemy communications and developing new code-breaking techniques.
After the war, Elizabeth went on the work for the Coast Guard. They needed help with smugglers who were hiding bootleg liquor and communicating with each other using coded messages. Could Elizabeth crack the codes, so the bootleggers could be caught? She could and did, often testifying at the trials of the smugglers.
When the United States entered WWII, Elizabeth's code-breaking skills were once again needed. In 1942, she joined the newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and began setting up a code-breaking unit. Yet, when her decoding talents helped with the capture of some Nazi spies, the FBI director took all the credit for himself. Nevertheless, Elizabeth carried on and helped put American Velvalee Dickinson in prison for spying for the Japanese by decoding her letters about buying "dolls."
Then came Germany's Enigma code-making machine, which created seemingly unbreakable codes. Thanks to a lazy Enigma operator, Elizabeth and her staff were about to break the codes after months of hard work. They didn't know that in England, code-breaker Alan Turing had also broken the Enigma codes.
I loved the way Elizabeth's own words were strategically worked into the stylized watercolor and gouache illustrations so readers can get a real sense of who Elizabeth was and what she thought about the groundbreaking work she did. I also loved the ribbons of coded messages the wrap around a number of pages like a lasso capturing secrets, including the Nazis that Elizabeth's decoded messages helped catch. And if you are interested in trying your hand at decoding. those ribbons are coded messages. Check out the back matter for help solving them.
Code Breaker, Spy Hunter is a fascinating biography about a woman who did so much and received so little credit for her hard work. It is packed with interesting information about Elizabeth's personal and professional life.
Besides information about Codes and Ciphers, back matter includes a challenge to Crack The Code, information on Cryptography Today, a Timeline and a Selected Bibliography.
You can also find some Activity Sheets to download courtesy of the publisher, Abrams Books HERE
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the Queens Public Library
When she was a child, Elizabeth Smith loved poetry and Shakespeare was her favorite author. She appreciated the structure and patterns she noticed in his poetry. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth graduated college in 1915 with a degree in English Lit, but she also studied Latin, Greek, and German.
Looking for a job in Chicago, Elizabeth was introduced to George Fabyan, a wealthy eccentric Shakespeare fan who invited her to become part of a group of researchers on his estate, Riverbank, who were looking for proof that Francis Bacon was the real writer of Shakespeare's plays. Her job was to look for secret messages left by Bacon in the plays. Who knew this job would eventually lead to Elizabeth's helping to capture Nazi spies?
Well, Elizabeth never found any coded messages but she did find friendship in the person of William Friedman, a scientist. The two friends spent part of their time together devising secret notes and challenging each other to decode them. Soon, they were in love and married.
When the United States entered WWI in 1917, Riverbank was converted to a code-breaking unit called the Riverbank Department of Ciphers. Elizabeth, William, and their cipher staff set about decoding enemy communications and developing new code-breaking techniques.
After the war, Elizabeth went on the work for the Coast Guard. They needed help with smugglers who were hiding bootleg liquor and communicating with each other using coded messages. Could Elizabeth crack the codes, so the bootleggers could be caught? She could and did, often testifying at the trials of the smugglers.
When the United States entered WWII, Elizabeth's code-breaking skills were once again needed. In 1942, she joined the newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and began setting up a code-breaking unit. Yet, when her decoding talents helped with the capture of some Nazi spies, the FBI director took all the credit for himself. Nevertheless, Elizabeth carried on and helped put American Velvalee Dickinson in prison for spying for the Japanese by decoding her letters about buying "dolls."
Then came Germany's Enigma code-making machine, which created seemingly unbreakable codes. Thanks to a lazy Enigma operator, Elizabeth and her staff were about to break the codes after months of hard work. They didn't know that in England, code-breaker Alan Turing had also broken the Enigma codes.
I loved the way Elizabeth's own words were strategically worked into the stylized watercolor and gouache illustrations so readers can get a real sense of who Elizabeth was and what she thought about the groundbreaking work she did. I also loved the ribbons of coded messages the wrap around a number of pages like a lasso capturing secrets, including the Nazis that Elizabeth's decoded messages helped catch. And if you are interested in trying your hand at decoding. those ribbons are coded messages. Check out the back matter for help solving them.
Code Breaker, Spy Hunter is a fascinating biography about a woman who did so much and received so little credit for her hard work. It is packed with interesting information about Elizabeth's personal and professional life.
Besides information about Codes and Ciphers, back matter includes a challenge to Crack The Code, information on Cryptography Today, a Timeline and a Selected Bibliography.
You can also find some Activity Sheets to download courtesy of the publisher, Abrams Books HERE
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the Queens Public Library
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