The Sailor Cipher

Explorer Academy Vela #1

by Trudi Trueit

Sailor York and the daring recruits of Explorer Academy uncover an elusive animal-smuggling ring in the first electrifying book in this new companion series.

Soon after Cruz, Sailor, Emmett, and Lani return for their second year at Explorer Academy, their sense of calm is shattered when Sailor’s older sister goes missing. Amidst incredible expeditions to far-flung destinations and competitive classes, Sailor bravely steps into the lead to discover how her sister’s sudden disappearance may be linked to an illegal and deadly animal-trafficking ring.

Despite winning the prestigious North Star Award and being surrounded by close friends and teachers who she has traveled the world with, Sailor’s never felt less sure of herself. As the recruits face puzzling obstacles and try to follow complex clues, Sailor realizes there’s only one thing that could save her sister: revealing her own deepest secret.

Genres: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Fantasy

208 pages, Library Binding

Published April 23, 2024

About the author

Trudi Trueit writes the kind of books she loves to read; stories packed with adventure, mystery, friendship, and hope; stories that reminds us to forge our own path and be our own hero! She's published more than 100 fiction and nonfiction titles for kids, including the award-winning EXPLORER ACADEMY series (National Geographic), which was chosen as an Amazon Prime Book Box selection and named one of Barnes and Noble Best Books of the Year for Young Readers. Look for her NEW EXPLORER ACADEMY spinoff series: VELA!

Born and raised in Seattle, WA she lives in the Northwest with her husband and three cats. P.S.: Trudi Trueit IS her real name (by marriage). Visit her website at www.truditrueit.com.

Visit her website at www.truditrueit.

Reviews

[Yusra ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I MISSED THE EXPLORER ACADEMY WORLD SM 🥹


Having a spin off series from Sailors POV is actually a dream come true (maybe a series following Lani next…?)

[Kaytlin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't not love Sailor, and while this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting it some areas, I still loved Sailor and the rest of the gang!

Characters:
Sailor York is the main character and I love her! Her determination and her sense of humor!
It was great to see Cruz, Lani, Dugan, and Emmett again, as well as all the rest of the young explorers and new characters as well!

Romance:
N/A

Language:
Sailor says Crikey.

Violence/Gore:
Mentions of poaching, someone being kidnapped, and the possibility that some is dead. Nothing gory.

Overall:
I didn't enjoy this as much as the main Explorer Academy books, but I still enjoyed it and definitely want to read the next book in the series to learn more about Sailor, Biota, and Hydrus!

Recommend age 9+

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sailor is entering her second year at the Explorer Academy, and the Explorer students discover that they will be travelling in a new ship, the Vela. Sailor is devastated when her older sister Keel mysteriously disappears, but Sailor's parents want her to continue with the school year aboard the Vela. She thinks that her sister might be sending her hidden messages with clues about what happened, and Sailor gets involved with a dangerous secret society. Her friends Cruz and Emmett and Lani are always there to get into trouble and out of it at Sailor's side. But what they don't know is that Sailor is hiding a remarkable secret of her own.

I love this spin-off of the Explorer Academy series! It has all the elements that I loved in the original series: adventure, codes and puzzles, world travel, nature conservation, cool technology, and amazing complex characters.

Sailor was already one of my favorite characters, so it is fantastic to get to know her better in this spin-off. She is feeling conflicted about the expectations put on her by the academy and her fellow students. She feels like she has to perform perfectly and be extraordinary all the time. But through her adventures and the encouragement of her friends and teachers, she learns that she just needs to be herself.
Sailor is also struggling with this unique heritage that her grandmother has told her to ignore and suppress. Sailor feels like she is always hiding, but eventually she finds the courage to be true to her heritage and the abilities that come with it.
She is such a complex character with a lot of layers, and a great character arc as she grows and develops her personality in new ways. And on top of that, she has all these crazy adventures trying to find out what happened to her missing sister!

I really love these Explorer Academy teachers! I am a teacher myself, and it's so great to see how they guide and encourage the students. But they also allow the kids to fail sometimes, because you can learn a lot more from failure than from success.

I enjoyed learning the real history of places they visit, and seeing how they protect animals and explore different ecosystems. It was especially interesting to learn about the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, because I have seen the forests in Mexico with millions and millions of butterflies on every surface. It was the most amazing experience of my life, so it was cool to see that included in this book.

I would recommend this series to readers aged 8 to 80 years. I can't wait to read more from this series!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s no secret that I LOVE the Explorer Academy series, so I was thrilled to be gifted a copy of book one in this new spin off series. The Sailor Cypher took me a few chapters to adjust, but after that I was completely invested. I love that so many characters are returning but we get to be inside a new main character’s thoughts and that opens up a world of different possibilities. These books do a great job blending future tech with read world tech alongside ecology and conservation in a way that never feels dull or preachy, just really fun and exciting. I can’t wait for more in this series!

[Cody Minturn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great start to a new series! Having Sailor as the main character, is as she would say it, sweet as! I am really excited to see where this new Explorer Academy series goes! (To New Zealand, hopefully!) I also loved the illustrations from the new illustrator, they are much sharper and cleaner than the one in the first series and just look so good! Can’t wait for the next one!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sailor Cipher is the first book in a sequel series to the Explorer Academy books. I recommend the original series multiple times per week in my school library and so I was pumped to get a DRC of this one. I will admit that the first section was a slog as it catches the reader up on the other series. I even set this down and went to another DRC because I did not feel I was in a place to do this justice. I am so glad I picked this back up the next day.

Sailor is an excellent main character and a great way to get more of my female students excited about this series. The scientific details are excellent and I love that science can be used to explain even the more fantastical elements, leaving it as a reading option for students who perhaps cannot read about magic due to religion.

Bringing back the same characters made this a comfortable read for me and I quickly found myself engrossed in this world. I will be recommending this to some of my intermediate elementary students and I am so glad to have gotten a chance to read it for myself. I will be ordering a copy ASAP for our library!

[Eliana Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this!!!! But it was waaaay to short, when does the next one come out?! 🤩😱

[➺ kath [ia] · Rating 4 out of 5]

𓈒⟡₊⋆∘ the sailor cipher⌇mini review.
honestly guys i was a little disappointed by this 😭😭 ik it’s been a while since i was in middle school but either it’s been genuinely a long time or this sailor pov is js not meant to be. i could not get used to reading her pov; all her admirable traits in explorer academy felt translated into negative ones and i miss having cruz narrate. having a new girl replace bryndis is also expected but i also wish there was more depth, like maybe she was given a trial run to come back or smth. my favorite characters are still cruz and dugan 👯 their good side came out so well in this book and i loved it sm !! i missed this series sm and besides not enjoying sailor’s pov, i loved the new plot !!

[Mark Buxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What worked:
This book is a spin-off of the original Explorer Academy series but this time it features Sailor, a young girl from Australia. The previous books focused on Cruz and he’s still part of the narrative along with most of the other students readers have come to know. A curious twist is Sailor’s secret ability to read the minds of animals she encounters. She doesn’t know if the animals can read her mind too but her grandmother warned Sailor not to use this ability. She doesn’t know the reasons behind her grandmother’s warning but she won’t tell her friends or her other family members. Reader interest will be tickled by Sailor’s hidden ability as they anticipate its possible development. The author also adds two opposing secret organizations to the book for an ongoing conflict, similar to what was found in the original Explorer Academy series.
Science fiction lovers will enjoy the book because of the multitude of cool inventions. The book opens with Sailor and Cruz testing a new communication device that allows people to listen and talk to bottle-nosed dolphins. Students head to the CAVE where they learn from virtual, real-life scenarios from anywhere in the world. All students wear academy uniforms with various abilities including camouflage. Cruz still has his robotic bee that is used for surveillance and other tasks while Sailor is gifted with a similar robotic butterfly. Emmett still wears the glasses he invented so other characters and readers will have a sense of his thoughts and feelings when the colors change. New technology is constantly popping up on the Vela and readers will need to remind themselves that it’s all found on this ship. Pages at the end of the book connect actual people and technology to references in the book.
The purpose of the academy remains dedicated to animals and the environment so readers will learn about and appreciate the importance and wonder of nature. The academy’s big project for this school year is tagging monarch butterflies to track their migratory patterns. It doesn’t sound overly exciting but the author adds a twist later in the book to spice things up. The student teams travel to the Caribbean Sea where they’ll create their own independent studies. Readers will learn about the fascinating history and ecosystem found within the Great Blue, a deep hole that formed after melting following the Ice Age. The characters will use revolutionary diving suits and will be transported to the bottom aboard the academy’s newest, most advanced submersible. Information about flora, fauna, and geography is seamlessly woven into the plot without making the story feel educational.
What didn’t work as well:
The are a few pages depicting Sailor’s journal entries but they’re not necessary. They don’t add much more to what’s already been said so the story can easily be enjoyed without them. However, they’re shown in full color which brightens the book along with all of the other vibrant illustrations.
The final verdict:
The characters will be familiar to fans of the original Explorers Academy and the focus on Sailor adds a wonderful twist. Overall, I highly recommend this to lovers of science and the environment.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of like the Octonauts + Wild Kratts + NatGeo ad + Harry Potter, but where all the students apart from the baddie team are Hermione. Good for getting kids thinking about communication in the more-than-human world (zoosemiotics).

However, there is an implicit assumption that humans are perhaps somehow different than other animals because Sailor has no empath abilities with humans, but she does with dolphins, jaguars, and butterflies.

So far as the book's environmentalism, it seems to come from the ideological standpoint that humans are separate from nature, but can visit national parks as tourists. I don't find this stance convincing because I happen to live in an ecosystem and eat food that grows in it and in more distant ecosystems.

The book focuses on the trade in exotic animals as the main baddie human activity, but this simplistic view may mislead kids never to consider the much more complex reality, including habitat loss to housing, industrial lobbying, how we eat from/with the land, externalized costs, population dynamics, and what are the environmental/energy costs (including in raw materials) of the characters getting a new yaught stuffed with gadgets.

There is a huge cast of characters to learn at once, and a lot of backstory that doesn't seem obviously relevant to this book, but maybe it will matter in the subsequent books in the series. Also, I found the chapter intros difficult to follow because the author employs the technique of beginning each chapter with the cart before the horse, probably with the aim of creating a hook. For instance, Sailor seems to be on a boat but then steps onto a street (which we soon understand is a holodeck projection).

The hero's journey threshold lies about halfway into the book, and there is no resolution as the reader is expected to continue with the next book in the series.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 13 year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first Explorer Academy series about Cruz and his quest to complete his mother's cipher. I was excited and intrigued to see that they were coming out with a new series. I'm unclear yet if each book will follow a different character, or if this whole series will be from Sailor's point of view. Considering it involves her sister's disappearance, I'm leaning toward the latter.

It was another fun and adventure filled book on board a brand new ship for the Explorers, and I did enjoy reading the story, and all of the colorful illustrations throughout are beautifully done. It really brings the book alive. However, one of the things I liked about the original EA series was that it was futuristic techy (my made up term, heh), just fun ideas of what technology might do someday mixed in with facts. However, this series went into a weird "magical / mystical / fantasy" side by giving Sailor a "special connection of communicating with animals through thought" (NOT using any sort of technology) which is entirely unrealistic and just downright weird when it wasn't a fantasy series to be begin with.

I also wish they would leave crushes of any sort out of books made for the 8-12 range. It is just completely unnecessary and unhealthy to encourage anything along those lines at this age. I am going to be waiting for the next few books to come out before I commit to adding these to my library.

I was given an eBook copy through NetGalley for reviewing purposes and all opinions are entirely my own.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series starter, but a spin-off from the original Explorer Academy books so readers may be familiar with the characters and plot. I had to catch up a bit, and the author does a nice job of reviewing some of the past events or character features that have led us to where we are now. Sailor is a gifted student in the Explorer academy, and some of her gifts she has not yet revealed. Once she begins to accept her leadership role and her ability to work with, not against, some of her challenges, she is able to begin solving the mystery of what happened to her sister and who is stealing secrets.

I especially enjoyed the end notes, where the author discussed the actual science behind the book, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there are insect drones that use biomimicry to learn about an environment or other creatures and deliver data back to scientists. This is great for anyone who is interested in the environment, science, sci-fi, and thrillers.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great addition to the Explorers Academy Series. I really enjoyed Sailor as the main character. I felt she showed a lot of growth, but it was done with grace and she was never afraid to learn or take chances. I like that this was more geared towards animals and Sailors connection to animals and am looking forward to learning more about this in future stories. I'm also looking forward to how her sister ties into the rest of the series, as she's currently missing! I always enjoy the futuristic technology , learning about new places and I really love the real world people featured at the end of each book. These may be books for kids, but I always learn something new and have fun along the way! I highly recommend this series!


I received a free E-ARC from Disney Publishing Worldwide ,NatGeo Under the Stars & Netgalley for my honest review.

[Bozhena Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Disney Publishing Worldwide, NatGeo Under the Stars, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this amazing book! The exploration and adventure continue in the new series full of the familiar characters and wonderful writing. Such a fun, awesome starts! Can’t wait for the next volume!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

In true 'Explorer Academy' style, this book caught me up from the first moment. Having already met Sailor in the previous series, I was excited to see what would be in store for her and Team Cousteau. A whole lot of adventure, with some intrigue and heartache thrown in for good measure, that's what!
I'm eagerly anticipating the next installment in 'Vela'!

[Corian Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations and journal pages but the writing style was not for me. It felt forced and like the author was obsessed with colors. There are only so many ways to describe brown and I found myself frustrated when they described something as “gingerbread color.” Too much was happening but the plot went nowhere. I really wish I had liked it.

[Nikolay Kotov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!! Explorer academy is back! Really entertaining book and some things I wasn’t expecting, like the Cruz’s mom would be the fake parrot poacher. Also sailor gets her own mell, greta a butterfly. Also I didn’t expect both the biota agents to be moles, but they were(I was suspecting redwood)

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great middle school book about an academy for explorers. I really like that the characters are exploring real places. The story moved along quickly and the characters are very interesting and likable.

[Elexndra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sailors story! Love this series Library borrow

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't wait for the next one. Just came out this year. So read it and find out what happens after the main explorer academy series.

[kelsee · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.75

[Amber Kesler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun adventure!

So happy there are more of these books! Enjoying living vicariously through the explorer academy kids! On to the next!

[Titus Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

i NEED another book in this series. like, right now 🤣

[Rebecca Kleveland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book. I read the previous series first and this follows along well. Another year at explorers academy and another mystery to solve