The Mysterious Virginia Hall: World War II's Most Dangerous Spy

by Claudia Friddell

Overview

How did a young lady from a wealthy family in Maryland end up as the Gestapo’s most wanted spy? This YA biography of Virginia Hall, World War II’s most successful female spy, will inspire reluctant readers and budding history buffs alike.

Virginia Hall, known to her family as “Dindy,” was an athletic, outdoorsy girl who dreamed of joining the foreign service and becoming an ambassador. Despite numerous setbacks, including losing her leg to gangrene after an accident, Virginia never wavered in her determination to serve her country. After the outbreak of World War II, a chance meeting on a train changed her life—George Bellows, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, recruited her as one of its first women agents. Working for Allied intelligence services in France, Virginia Hall organized French resistance fighters, performed daring rescues, and provided the Allies with intelligence that was key for ousting the Nazis and earned her numerous medals, including the US Army’s Distinguished Service Cross.

With chapters titled for each of the many aliases and nicknames used by Virginia Hall, this book takes readers through her extraordinary life and her evolution as a resistance fighter and intelligence operative. Award-winning author Claudia Friddell brings Virginia Hall’s bravery, intelligence, and determination to life in this thoroughly researched and photo-filled biography endorsed by Hall’s family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662680595
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	06/24/2025
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.31(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.64(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Claudia Friddell is the author of several children’s books, including Cool off and Ride: A Trolley Trip to Beat the Heat; Road Trip: Camping With the Four Vagabonds: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs; To the Front!: Clara Barton Braves the Battle of Antietam; and Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call: The Heroic Story of WWI Telephone Operators. She has been a therapist, a school counselor, and an elementary school teacher.

Read an Excerpt

DINDY
Virginia Hall might have been the name on her birth certificate,
but thanks to a nickname from her brother, John,
Dindy was the name that stuck.
Most young girls of Baltimore society a century ago were expected to follow in their mothers’ ladylike footsteps—
but Dindy made a path of her own.
 
Never one to mind getting her hands dirty,
her feet wet,
or her body bruised,
Dindy was happiest riding horses and hunting with her father and brother at Boxhorn Farm—
the Halls’ country estate outside Baltimore.

When Dindy’s father, Ned,
wasn’t leading the way in outdoor adventures on the family farm,
he was busy providing indoor adventures at his movie theaters—
magical places where reels of film brought the outside world to Baltimore.
 
For generations the Halls had been fascinated by cultures vastly different and worlds away from Maryland shores.

At the age of nine,
Dindy’s grandfather stowed away on his sea captain father’s clipper ship,
and later captained a ship of his own that brought Asian goods to America.

While many of their friends crossed the Chesapeake Bay for seaside vacations,
Dindy’s family crossed the Atlantic Ocean for European adventures.

From her very first transatlantic voyage at the age of four,
Dindy stowed away a love for Europe.
 
When Dindy wasn’t chasing after her brother at Boxhorn Farm,
or exploring foreign countries with her family,
she was blazing her own unique trail at Roland Park Country School—
an all-girls school in Baltimore.

Never once in twelve years at RPCS
did she hear—
You can’t do that, you’re a girl!
Because, unlike in the outside world,
every club and team at Dindy’s school was not only made up of girls—
they were all led by girls.
Nicknamed the Fighting Blade by her ninth-grade classmates,
Dindy was a natural leader in sports, student government,
and school activities.
She was often her own harshest critic,
but her devoted classmates gave her an endearing tribute on her yearbook senior page:

She is, by her own confession,
cantankerous and capricious,
but in spite of it all
we would not do without her;
for she is our class-president,
the editor-in-chief of this book,
and one of the mainstays
of the basket-ball and hockey teams.
She has been acclaimed
the most original of our class,
and she lives up
to her reputation
at all times.
The one thing to expect from Dind
is the unexpected.

It was certainly unexpected the day Dindy surprised her classmates by wearing a favorite new bracelet to school—
a live, slithering garter snake coiled around her wrist.

Dindy, inspired by Shakespeare’s play,
As You Like It, made it clear on her senior page just how much she valued her independence when she stated

I must have liberty, withal as large a charter as I please.

Dindy had no way of knowing then of the bold sacrifices she would later make to prove her own independence—
or the extraordinary risks she would take to defend and preserve liberty for so many others.
 
Mr. Hall encouraged his daughter’s independent nature,
and while Mrs. Hall accepted Dindy’s free spirit,
she still expected her beautiful, bright,
and accomplished daughter to join the path of other young ladies of Baltimore society by marrying a worthy husband and starting a family nearby.
But in 1920, when Dindy was fourteen,
a family visit to London’s American embassy dashed Barbara Hall’s dreams for her daughter and steered Dindy toward a different path—
one that didn’t include a husband, a family, or a home in Maryland.

Once she learned
American ambassadors represented the United States in foreign countries,
Dindy decided this was her destiny.

She wasn’t the least bit discouraged when her father explained there were no female ambassadors—
it only fueled Dindy’s determination.
After all, being a girl had never gotten in the way of her dreams before.

A maverick at home and at school,
Dindy was ready to take her first step toward a future most women didn’t want and couldn’t get in the 1920s—
an overseas job in the United States Foreign Service.

With her father’s blessing,
and her mother’s disapproval,
Roland Park’s most original student set off on a most unexpected journey,
leaving her hometown and her nickname behind.

Editorial Reviews

"Traces the exciting life of a pioneering spy who became the CIA's first tenured woman officer... the short chapters, plentiful photos, and ample white space makes this inviting to readers overwhelmed by dense text... a satisfying introduction to a remarkable woman's influential contributions to espionage."—Kirkus Reviews

"Friddell’s love letter to a lesser-known WWII spy presents an impressive true story in an inviting format... A riveting exploration of Virginia Hall's life and work, especially her undercover escapades, told with as much ease and enjoyment as a wartime spy mystery."—Booklist

"This inspiring tale of courage, intelligence, and determination introduces Virginia Hall, one of history’s most remarkable, but relatively unknown, heroes... This biography is a good addition to a secondary school’s biography collection. Readers who enjoy stories of bravery, espionage, and strong female figures will find Hall’s story both thrilling and inspiring."–School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2025-04-19
Traces the exciting life of a pioneering spy who became the CIA’s first tenured woman officer.

Virginia Hall, who was born into Baltimore high society in the early 20th century, was a white woman of many names and talents. After opening with a foreword by her great-nephew, this work written in spare verse traces Hall’s early life and illustrious career. She was a daredevil who enjoyed international travel from an early age and pursued graduate studies in French and economics. The first time she attempted to join the Foreign Service, she failed the exam. Following a hunting accident in Turkey which resulted in the loss of her left leg below the knee, she was rejected for being an amputee. In 1940, Hall became an ambulance driver on the front lines of World War II in France, opening the door for her to spy for Britain’s Special Operations Executive, becoming one of the most respected—and hunted—spies in France. After the war, she joined the Central Intelligence Group, later known as the CIA. Friddell relays Hall’s thrilling exploits, firmly grounding them within historical events. The short chapters, plentiful photos, and ample white space make this inviting to readers overwhelmed by dense text, although the choppy verse affects readability (Heather Demetrios’ conversationally written 2021 biography of Hall,Code Name Badass, would supplement this work well).

A satisfying introduction to a remarkable woman’s influential contributions to espionage. (author’s note, Hall’s awards and honors, source notes, bibliography, picture credits)(Verse biography. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews