About This Book

Pssst! Inside these TOP SECRET files is everything sneaky young agents need to know about making —and breaking — their own secret codes. And as you'll see, a duo of seasoned, sneaky spies is on the case to illustrate how it all works.

Do you know the difference between a code and a cipher? Can you tell a St. Cyr slide from a Cardano grille? Did you know that a substitution cipher caused Mary Queen of Scots to lose her head?

Don't look now, but packed into this practical field guide is everything a young person needs to know about the art of concealment — making and breaking codes, mastering cipher systems, and experimenting with secret writing.

Offering plenty of hands-on practice sessions, tips for creating a code-making kit, sidebars on secret codes in history, and an amusing pair of spies to illustrate techniques, Paul B. Janeczko's tantalizing TOP SECRET won't stay a secret for long.

** "The author's upbeat, positive tone is refreshing and his enthusiasm about his topic is contagious." — School Library Journal (starred review)