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

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.

"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

"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