The Secret of the Skeleton Key (The Code Busters Club) - Hardcover

Warner, Penny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1606841629 ISBN 13: 9781606841624

Publisher: Darby Creek ™, 2011

Synopsis

Cody, Quinn, Luke, and M.E. may not have much in common with each other, but they do love playing around with codes. In fact, they love codes so much, they have their own private club, with a super-secret hideout and passwords that change every single day. When Cody and Quinn notice what could be a code on the window of their neighbor's house―the neighbor they call Skeleton Man―the club gets to work. And it is a cry for help! Now the Code Busters are on the case―and nothing will stop them from solving the mystery and finding the secret treasure that seems to be the cause of it all! This exciting interactive mystery offers more than fifteen codes for you to decipher, including the Consonant code, Morse code, and American Sign Language. Test your brain with the Code Busters and solve the mystery along with them. Answers are in the back, if you ever get stuck.

About this title

About the Author

Penny Warner has published more than 60 books for both adults and children. She teaches child development at a local college in California. You can join the Code Busters Club at www.codebustersclub.com.

Review

"This first of a series delivers a splendid story of four youths on a code-breaking spree.
Cody and her three buddies comprise an exclusive club revolving around studying and creating codes. It's all in fun, but things amp up to intense when Cody and Quinn spy two lurking strangers at Mr. Skelton's creepy old house. Cody awakens the next morning to find Mr. Skelton's house in flames and an ambulance taking him to the hospital. Cody then notices symbols drawn on an upstairs windowpane. As the club members investigate the charred house and each new clue leads to the next, they find cryptic messages that lead them repeatedly to one of Mr. Skelton's many cats and possibly to hidden treasure. Moreover, the strangers, calling themselves cousins of Mr. Skelton, are clearly looking for something in the old man's house and begin to appear capable of treachery well beyond robbery. Adding depth to an already smart, fast-paced mystery, a resonant back story reveals that Cody's parents have recently divorced and that her little sister is deaf. Readers are active participants in the momentum and are frequently invited to solve classic forms of code, such as Morse and semaphores.
This intriguing tale has vivid characters and such a tantalizing cliffhanger that the readers won't be able to resist cracking the next Code Busters." ―Kirkus Reviews

(Journal)

"This clever novel introduces the members of the Code Busters Club―Cody, Quinn, Luke, and M.E.―as they take on the task of solving a mystery surrounding the reclusive Mr. Skelton, whose house catches on fire the night after Cody and Quinn spot him in an upstairs window signaling for help. The foursome begins a seemingly hopeless search for information and end up uncovering a clue hidden behind a framed certificate, which leads them to another, and to another, until finally they piece it all together. Add in a couple of shady distant cousins who keep showing up wherever the club members are, rumors of large amounts of money hidden in the house, and the tremendous likability of kids gifted with decoding and detection skills and you've got a great story and a solid setup for a series. Throughout the narrative, clues and information are presented in code and cipher―Morse code, American Sign Language fingerspelling, semaphores, Braille, Caesar's cipher―and readers are invited to decode the statements and check the back of the book for the answer. This serves to add interest for a whole new crowd of readers who will find the interactive element very appealing. The villains are deeply villainous, the heroes remarkably heroic, and the plot, while a bit of a stretch, is a whole lot of fun. The final pages point to a second installment set on Alcatraz Island; expect requests upon return of this volume." ―The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

(Journal)

Edition details

• Publisher: Darby Creek ™
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1606841629
• ISBN 13: 9781606841624
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224