Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity (2012) (Egmont)
Elizabeth Wein
Grade: A
Genre: young adult / historical
Source: own
Code Name Verity: (1) Code Name Verity

Young adult RBC 2014: The first book in a series 

Fearless Scotswoman and blue blooded ‘Queenie’ become unlikely best friends with Maddie Brodatt, aspiring female pilot, when the war brings these two girls together. Their unlikely friendship transcends their rank, official duties and geographical boundaries as their operations continue to bring them together and send them apart again. When the pilot who is meant to be flying Queenie to France for Code Name Verity is unavoidably detained, Queenie suggests Maddie for the task. Maddie is very familiar with flying her best friend to top-secret missions that she’s not allowed to ask about and so she doesn’t expect this flight to be any different from normal. When their plane is hit, Queenie is forced to jump for it and continue her mission as planned. When she’s captured by enemy forces after a stupid cultural blunder, one wrong move could bring everything she’s worked for crashing down …

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse (1982) (Egmont)
Michael Morpurgo
Grade: A-
Genre: children's
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A best-selling book 

When a young colt is sold at an auction, he doesn’t expect to find a friend and loyal master in Albert, a boy at a Devonshire farm who names his new love, Joey. A beautiful red-bay foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, Joey is forced to become a farm horse by Albert’s father in order to ‘earn his keep.’ When the war breaks out, Joey is sold again to a Captain Nicholls to be used as a war horse, travelling over to France and facing the horrors of the First World War. Finding a friend in another thoroughbred horse, Topthorn, he and Joey lead a cavalry charge towards enemy lines, being captured by the Germans in the process. War Horse tells the story of Joey’s journey across Europe and Albert’s mission to be reunited with the horse he loves.