Asha and Baz are off on another adventure as they try to break a code in Meet Elizabeth Friedman, written by Caroline Fernandez and illustrated by Dharmali Patel.

When Ms. Wilson gives her class an assignment to break a secret code, Asha and Baz are in it to win it! They struggle with how to solve the problem but know that they have the magic stick in their back pocket and quickly travel to 1942 to meet Elizabeth Friedman, codebreaker with the US Navy during the Second World War. With her guidance, Asha and Baz are able to put their minds together and solve Ms. Wilson’s assignment and earn a mystery prize.

Caroline Fernandez’s Asha and Baz series is highly engaging and fascinating. Modeled after The Magic Treehouse stories, the main characters travel through time to solve the special assignments set for them by their teacher Ms. Wilson. All three books thus far focus on Asha and Baz learning from and about women in STEM. In Meet Elizabeth Friedman, readers not only learn about Ms. Friedman and her crucial work during the war, but they also learn about the Second World War and what life was like during that time in history.

This story has the added bonus of a deadline to solve the problem which amps up the suspense factor and keeps readers on the edge of their seats, waiting to find out if they will break the code and save the ships out at sea. I also appreciated that readers get to learn about different ways to create and break codes themselves It may spur on the passing of some secret messages which is always a fun activity to do with friends.

The books always contain excellent back matter and this third installment is no exception. I love how the back matter is broken down into easy bullet points for readers to engage with to keep the information flowing. 

Dharmali Patel’s illustrations are a perfect fit for this story. Her cartoon drawings make the readers feel like they are inside their favourite television show and also provide some excellent breaks to the text to allow readers a minute to digest the information before they move along to the next part of the story.