Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing

"The author's upbeat, positive tone is refreshing and his enthusiasm about his topic is contagious." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)

Pssst 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 the discovery of 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.
Back matter includes suggestions for further reading, an author's note, an answer key, and an index.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 04/11/2006
ISBN: 9780763629724
Pages: 136
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.90h x 7.00w x 0.40d
Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 74915 / Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing
Reading Level: 7.3 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 3