Code Girls Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The NSA and its Affiliates and our BookBrowse Review of Code Girls.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. What particular skills and characteristics did the Army and Navy look for in the women recruited to their code-breaking programs? How do you believe stereotypes about women were employed or challenged in the recruitment effort? 
2. How do you imagine World War Two affected personal and romantic relationships? What do you think were Americans' attitudes toward marriage then—and did those attitudes change at all for the "code girls" generation?
3. Why do you think Dot Braden and Ruth "Crow" Weston became such great friends? If they had met in other circumstances or in peacetime, do you think they would have gotten along just as well?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Hachette Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.