Liza Mundy - Code Girls: The True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in World War II

Code Girls: The True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in World War II (Young Readers Edition) was adapted for young readers by Laurie Calkhoven. It is an abridgment of Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy, published by Hachette Books.

Copyright 2018 by Liza Mundy

Front cover photograph courtesy of Deborah Anderson. Background code photograph courtesy of Liza Mundy. Cover design by Karina Granda.

Cover copyright 2018 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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First Edition: October 2018

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Waves of the Navy, Words by Betty D. St. Clair, Music by Elizabeth K. Ender, 1944 WB Music Corp. (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by Permission of Alfred Publishing, LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mundy, Liza, 1960 author.

Title: Code girls : the true story of the American women who secretly broke codes in World War II / Liza Mundy.

Description: New York : Little, Brown and Company, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Ages 812.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018023822| ISBN 9780316353731 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780316353748 (ebook) | ISBN 9780316353755 (library edition ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: World War, 19391945CryptographyJuvenile literature. | World War, 19391945Participation, FemaleJuvenile literature. | CryptographersUnited StatesHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. | CryptographyUnited StatesHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC D810.C88 M862 2018 | DDC 940.54/867309252dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023822

ISBNs: 978-0-316-35373-1 (hardcover), 978-0-316-35374-8 (ebook)

E3-20180823-JV-PC

To all these women, and to Margaret Talbot

Dear Readers,

The young women featured in this book faced an incredibly difficult task at a time in American history when our freedom, our democracy, and our entire way of life were endangered, a time in global history when people around the world were suffering and uncertain of their fate. These womennot very much older than you arehad to learn hard, complicated work that many people thought they could not master. In many ways, these women had been treated for much of their life like children, their talents underestimated by the adults in their lives. When the young women accepted the job that was given to them, many people thought the responsibility and the challenge of code breaking might be too much for them.

Perhaps you, at some point in your life, have also felt underestimatedfelt as though the adults in your life did not trust you or did not understand what you were capable of achieving. Perhaps you too have longed for the chance to prove yourself, to convince people you can do more than anyone realizes.

Well, this book is for you. As you will see, the women in this book proved that they could tackle most any task that was thrown at them. They stuck with the toughest challenges, mastering code systems that were intricate and ever-changing, in an atmosphere of great urgency, when lives were at stake and the work often seemed overwhelming. They pushed their brains and also their bodies, working around the clock. They emerged as leaders. They succeeded in cracking codes and doing tasks that people thought were impossible for anybody to succeed at, much less young women. If they failed one day at a certain message or code system, they got up the next morning and tried again. If they failed again that day, they got up the next morning and went right back to work. And again. And again. They understood that the fate of the free world really did rest on their shoulders. They withstood enormous pressure, they kept their work secret, and, importantly, they worked together. They supported one another. They believed in one another. They cheered one another on. They braved tragedy in their own lives, and they knew full well that the lives of men they knew and loved depended on their efforts. Imagine what that must have felt liketo know that your own brothers survival, for example, or the life of a good friend depended on you and your skills! They believed in America, and they believed in themselves. Even when other people doubted them, these young women knew they could do what was being asked of them. They gave it everything they hadand more. And they succeeded. At a critical moment in American history, they showed that when people are trusted with jobs of great difficulty and responsibilityeven very young peoplethey can rise to the challenge and succeed. We all owe them our thanks.

I hope you find their tale inspiring, and I hope you find a challenge in your own life that you enjoy tackling and mastering. And dont let any doubters stop you! I am certain that whatever you want to take on, if you persist, you can do it.

Yours truly,

Liza Mundy

Codes and Ciphers

cipher: A secret message system in which a single letter or number is replaced by another single letter or number

code: A secret message system in which an entire word or phrase is replaced by another word, a series of letters, or a string of numbers known as a code group

cryptanalysis: The art and science of breaking codes and ciphers

cryptography: The art and science of making codes and ciphers

cryptology: Both making and breaking codes and ciphers

A World at War

During World War II, the United States and its allies (the Allied powers) fought against the Axis powers.

MAIN ALLIED POWERS:

France

Great Britain

Soviet Union

United States

MAIN AXIS POWERS:

Germany

Italy

Japan