By Penny Warner
Series: Code Busters Club
Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing (August 1, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1512403075
ISBN-13: 978-1512403077
Publisher’s Blurb:
The Code Busters are excited for their class field trip to Angel Island, known as the Ellis Island of the West. One of Mika's ancestors passed through the island's immigration station in the early twentieth century, and Mika thinks he may have left behind some secret messages . . . plus a very special box. But as the Code Busters search for hints from the past, they get caught up in an even bigger secret.
Can you crack the code? Test your brain with the Code Busters to see if you have the right stuff to be an ace detective. Answers are in the back, in case you get stuck.
My Thoughts:
This is definitely a book you want to have in hard copy. In e-book form, it was tough to check my code-breaking skills with the keys at the back of the book.
I haven’t read others in this series, so I don’t know all the backstory of the characters, but this is a fun group of late-elementary-aged children.
It definitely gave me a “Scooby Doo” vibe—you know, those meddling kids! The bad guy was definitely reminiscent of a bad guy from that long-running cartoon series.
The kids worked well together and supported each other. What I didn’t like was the class outcast, “Matt the Brat.” I think he was a stereotype of the boy who can’t sit still and finds himself in trouble a lot. Yes, he was a bit of a braggart, but I think he was poorly handled. The Code Busters were very unsympathetic and cold toward him until near the end, when they actually come to like him a bit. I hope that is a trend that will continue in further volumes. The “troublemaking boy” is a trope that, as a teacher, I find rather harmful.
The most far-out part of the story? These kids get to go on overnight camping field trips. Must be nice to live in a district with that kind of money!
My third-grader loves cracking codes and I think she would really enjoy this if I had a hard copy of it.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Kids do things without adult permission. Some dangerous situations.
Who Might Like This Book:
Kids who like mysteries and enjoy learning about all kinds of codes. Scooby Doo fans. The suggested age range is appropriate, although I know a few second graders who could easily handle it, and many eighth graders who would feel they are above it.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.
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