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Secret Breakers #1
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Imagine the chance to solve the Voynich Manuscript - a puzzle that has truly defeated adults for centuries.
It's an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.
A secret hidden for centuries.
But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She's chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.
But it's a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.
Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them - and will even kill to stop them.
In this original new series, three children tackle real unsolved mysteries and struggle with real unbroken codes to get to the hidden truth. A Da Vinci Code for kids ...
It's an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.
A secret hidden for centuries.
But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She's chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.
But it's a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.
Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them - and will even kill to stop them.
In this original new series, three children tackle real unsolved mysteries and struggle with real unbroken codes to get to the hidden truth. A Da Vinci Code for kids ...
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2012
21 people are currently reading
347 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 25, 2015
Such an interesting, well-researched and well-thought-out story. Loved all the info about Bletchley Park and Brighton Pavilion. Never overly-complicated, but just in case the reader misses something important, the inclusion of odd pages from the protagonist's notebook helps make everything clear.
December 29, 2018
I read this for my school book club and it was SO gripping! I loved it and it was so interesting! Thanks to the way it was written, I was able to enjoy the book throughout the whole way!
June 28, 2014
I decided to read this book I picked that book up and find out this is interesting book.
This will fit in the category of main female character on the bingo board.
I find the character Brodie Bray interesting because he nevers wants to give it up on code cracking. She want to continued finding the secret of the M7370 book until other people tries to stop them.
What I learned from them is work hard. Keep moving until you reach your goal.
For this book, as part of Wide Reading programme, this book will be made into book poster
This will fit in the category of main female character on the bingo board.
I find the character Brodie Bray interesting because he nevers wants to give it up on code cracking. She want to continued finding the secret of the M7370 book until other people tries to stop them.
What I learned from them is work hard. Keep moving until you reach your goal.
For this book, as part of Wide Reading programme, this book will be made into book poster
January 19, 2020
3.8
A very good start in a promising series. The premise is only somewhat believable, and with some effort: some smart kids are going to crack codes that have remained unsolved for decades. But once you agree to play ball, the story moves along at a good pace, and the codes and riddles are fun. Some of the solutions require some unrealistic leaps in logic, or some really lucky guesses, or both. But overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book (and I went ahead and bought the other five in the series, which I guess means something).
A very good start in a promising series. The premise is only somewhat believable, and with some effort: some smart kids are going to crack codes that have remained unsolved for decades. But once you agree to play ball, the story moves along at a good pace, and the codes and riddles are fun. Some of the solutions require some unrealistic leaps in logic, or some really lucky guesses, or both. But overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book (and I went ahead and bought the other five in the series, which I guess means something).
March 5, 2020
I was expecting more than the book can offer me; it's a kid's book so I need to understand that and get over.
The story is good but at this moment I don'tknow how the auhor can expand it for 5 books more, that intrigued me.
The problem with the writting is that the author mix a lot of parts at the same time so you feel a lot of disorder, or at leats for me was like that, on the same page you are reading about something nd after the character or the situation change and it's unconfortable.
The story is good but at this moment I don'tknow how the auhor can expand it for 5 books more, that intrigued me.
The problem with the writting is that the author mix a lot of parts at the same time so you feel a lot of disorder, or at leats for me was like that, on the same page you are reading about something nd after the character or the situation change and it's unconfortable.
April 13, 2025
This book was really good, better than I expected, actually!! The characters had more depth than I was expecting for a book for this age range. The storyline was so well researched which I could tell. It kept me on my toes, and I really, really, REALLY loved the fact that from page one, it was straight into the plot, no filler parts. Overall a really good read, and I'm really looking forward to reading the next part of the series!!!!
January 3, 2019
Trois enfants surdoués sont recrutés pour casser un code, pour qu'un mystérieux manuscrit révele ses secrets. Que j'aime les énigmes !
Bon, le livre est un peu long, et souffre d'un côté « Harry Potterien » (2 garçons, 1 fille, un institut...) mais j'ai passé un agréable moment.
Bon, le livre est un peu long, et souffre d'un côté « Harry Potterien » (2 garçons, 1 fille, un institut...) mais j'ai passé un agréable moment.
March 26, 2022
This is a fun mystery that teaches the reader some common codes and how to break them. There were a few convenient coincidences, but generally I enjoyed the three middle school protagonists and their adult guides.
September 6, 2022
It took some time, but after I read a few pages I was hooked, I was so excited to read it every time I had the chance.
The only reason I didn’t give it a five is because sometimes I didn’t understand what was happening, but overall it’s a very nice book or all ages and interests
The only reason I didn’t give it a five is because sometimes I didn’t understand what was happening, but overall it’s a very nice book or all ages and interests
July 24, 2019
Took a while to catch my attention but once I got into it, I was entirely wrapped up in the story, it was hard to put down.
September 30, 2019
I couldn't get into this. For me, the pace was slow and the characters rather uninspiring. IMHO, it doesn't compare to the intrigue, pizzazz, and writing of something like The Blackthorn Key.
June 17, 2020
Very nice book for childeren who loves brain breakers
June 28, 2020
A delightful adventure to read with a very intelligent kids.
November 27, 2020
I give this book a 3.75⭐️
June 19, 2021
3rd reread
5 stars
5 stars
July 25, 2021
BŁAGAM WYDAJCIE POZOSTAŁE KSIĄŻKI PO POLSKU!!!
November 27, 2021
I read this book when I was like 11 and I really liked it and couldn't remember what it was called but now I found it
December 6, 2021
I can only read the book descriptions just like all the other books
February 12, 2023
I need to stop reading middle grade books thinking that they’re gonna be as good as PJO
Read
August 24, 2023It was like a code itself
August 28, 2023
3.75 stars. A next level treasure hunt type of a story with lots of clues and puzzles to be solved. A very fun read.
March 15, 2014
This was a tricky one to rate because I really liked it, but my Chatterbooks Group of 9-11 year-olds weren't quite so keen. (The book is rated by our book supplier as a book for this age group.)
Power of Three is the first book in the Secret Breakers series and is about three kids who have a real talent for code-cracking. They are recruited by a small number of retired code-breakers who used to work at Bletchley Park which was the famous British code-breaking centre during WW2. In this story the code-breakers have spent their lives trying to decipher the Voynicht Mauscript. But having failed, they decide to bring in a new generation of young people with fresh minds to help them out. They are Brodie, Tushi and Hunter, with Brodie being the central character.
So far, so good. I can't remember the last time I read a good code-breaking story and I admit the trail of clues is really clever and the author must have done lots of research and used a huge amount of imagination to put them all together. In fact it was often easy to forget that they were made up by the author and not real. So in that sense it was a bit like the Da Vinci Code for kids.
The kids I gave it too are all good readers aged 9-11 and they were enthusiastic when I handed the book out. But when we met again a month later only one of them had really got into it and loved the code-breaking aspect. The others found it a bit slow moving. The word 'boring' was used, although I thought that was possibly a bit unfair!
The problem with it seemed to be (and I do agree slightly) that it possibly focused too much on the older generation of code-crackers and not so much on the kids. It felt at times more like a book that would interest adults. So although quite a lot happened in the book there wasn't really enough drama and action to make it a page-turner for kids. Most of the action was in one memorable scene in the Brighton Pavilion and that was the best part of the book by far.
The other slightly annoying thing was that the author had a habit of suddenly changing scene in the middle of a chapter with no warning. One minute you'd be in a room with two characters and then the story would suddenly be talking about someone else and it took a few seconds to figure out that there'd been a complete scene change. If she could have added some kind of little symbol between paragraphs to let the reader know, I think it would have been helpful, especially when you're writing for children.
To be fair, I expect the next books in the series probably have more drama than the first. But when I offered the sequal to my book group only one of them wanted to take it. It might work better with teenagers perhaps. But it was clever and interesting and quite refreshingly different. I also liked the author's website which gave a whole load of lesson plans and also a competition. I loved that. It makes my job a lot easier!
Power of Three is the first book in the Secret Breakers series and is about three kids who have a real talent for code-cracking. They are recruited by a small number of retired code-breakers who used to work at Bletchley Park which was the famous British code-breaking centre during WW2. In this story the code-breakers have spent their lives trying to decipher the Voynicht Mauscript. But having failed, they decide to bring in a new generation of young people with fresh minds to help them out. They are Brodie, Tushi and Hunter, with Brodie being the central character.
So far, so good. I can't remember the last time I read a good code-breaking story and I admit the trail of clues is really clever and the author must have done lots of research and used a huge amount of imagination to put them all together. In fact it was often easy to forget that they were made up by the author and not real. So in that sense it was a bit like the Da Vinci Code for kids.
The kids I gave it too are all good readers aged 9-11 and they were enthusiastic when I handed the book out. But when we met again a month later only one of them had really got into it and loved the code-breaking aspect. The others found it a bit slow moving. The word 'boring' was used, although I thought that was possibly a bit unfair!
The problem with it seemed to be (and I do agree slightly) that it possibly focused too much on the older generation of code-crackers and not so much on the kids. It felt at times more like a book that would interest adults. So although quite a lot happened in the book there wasn't really enough drama and action to make it a page-turner for kids. Most of the action was in one memorable scene in the Brighton Pavilion and that was the best part of the book by far.
The other slightly annoying thing was that the author had a habit of suddenly changing scene in the middle of a chapter with no warning. One minute you'd be in a room with two characters and then the story would suddenly be talking about someone else and it took a few seconds to figure out that there'd been a complete scene change. If she could have added some kind of little symbol between paragraphs to let the reader know, I think it would have been helpful, especially when you're writing for children.
To be fair, I expect the next books in the series probably have more drama than the first. But when I offered the sequal to my book group only one of them wanted to take it. It might work better with teenagers perhaps. But it was clever and interesting and quite refreshingly different. I also liked the author's website which gave a whole load of lesson plans and also a competition. I loved that. It makes my job a lot easier!
April 28, 2013
J'ai aimé ce livre, sans que ce soit la folie non plus.
Plus le nombre de personnages augmente et plus j'ai de mal à me souvenir de chacun lorsque je revois un prénom au bout de quelques dizaines de pages, mais ça c'est un problème que j'ai avec beaucoup de livres, ce n'est donc pas la faute de celui-ci et vous n'aurez ce problème si vous n'y êtes habituellement sujet.
Je pense que cet ouvrage se veut éducatif, en effet il cite beaucoup de petites histoires à connaître pour élargir sa culture, comme la caverne de Platon par exemple.
Par contre, avoir fait tourner l'intrigue principale autour du roi Arthur Pendragon, là c'est vraiment piocher dans les histoires faciles et très peuplées.
Ceci n'est pourtant pas trop grave, ce qui l'est plus est de posséder des énigmes au niveau très inégal: soit un élément est cité en seulement 2 lignes puis le narrateur passe vite à autre chose, et alors on sait que ce sera un élément primordial de l'histoire sur lequel les personnages devront revenir, avec au passage la leçon donnée au lecteur de ne laisser passer aucun détail; soit un élément ne nous sera pas tout-de-suite donné dans la description de la scène et alors il nous est évidement impossible de l'avoir vu venir.
Je ne peux qu'espérer que le tome prochain lâche un peu Arthur et n'emmêle pas autant les choses, car en tentant de me souvenir de la fin du livre, je me suis surpris a avoir oublié à quel point exact les personnages en étaient rendus.
Plus le nombre de personnages augmente et plus j'ai de mal à me souvenir de chacun lorsque je revois un prénom au bout de quelques dizaines de pages, mais ça c'est un problème que j'ai avec beaucoup de livres, ce n'est donc pas la faute de celui-ci et vous n'aurez ce problème si vous n'y êtes habituellement sujet.
Je pense que cet ouvrage se veut éducatif, en effet il cite beaucoup de petites histoires à connaître pour élargir sa culture, comme la caverne de Platon par exemple.
Par contre, avoir fait tourner l'intrigue principale autour du roi Arthur Pendragon, là c'est vraiment piocher dans les histoires faciles et très peuplées.
Ceci n'est pourtant pas trop grave, ce qui l'est plus est de posséder des énigmes au niveau très inégal: soit un élément est cité en seulement 2 lignes puis le narrateur passe vite à autre chose, et alors on sait que ce sera un élément primordial de l'histoire sur lequel les personnages devront revenir, avec au passage la leçon donnée au lecteur de ne laisser passer aucun détail; soit un élément ne nous sera pas tout-de-suite donné dans la description de la scène et alors il nous est évidement impossible de l'avoir vu venir.
Je ne peux qu'espérer que le tome prochain lâche un peu Arthur et n'emmêle pas autant les choses, car en tentant de me souvenir de la fin du livre, je me suis surpris a avoir oublié à quel point exact les personnages en étaient rendus.
September 18, 2012
I met Helen at the IBBY Congress, last August. She talked passionately about ‘Crossing the boundaries of narrative: Translating the stories behind non print media eg: music, architecture and codes.’
She inspired me on creating stories for things that might be taken for granted or overlooked, although definitely the things she talked about are of remarkable history.
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Secret Breakers dipromosikan sebagai Da Vinci Code untuk anak-anak. Bukannya tanpa alasan. Anak-anak senang kode dan rahasia, dan Da Vinci Code yang populer beberapa waktu lalu juga banyak dibaca pembaca muda. (mengingat beberapa teman sempat mengeluhkan anak-anak mereka yang melahap buku Dan Brown itu.)
Untuk anak-anak yang pernah membaca DVC dan memahaminya, Secret Breakers akan terasa terlalu mudah, sangat kanak-kanak. Tapi justru itulah poinnya. Secret Breakers akan membawa anak-anak kembali pada keasyikan memecahkan kode yang melibatkan mereka, bukan yang "terlalu jauh" dari dunia mereka.
Aku ingin merekomendasikannya kepada teman-teman. Semoga ada penerbit Indonesia yang tertarik menerbitkan versi Indonesianya.
She inspired me on creating stories for things that might be taken for granted or overlooked, although definitely the things she talked about are of remarkable history.
------------
Secret Breakers dipromosikan sebagai Da Vinci Code untuk anak-anak. Bukannya tanpa alasan. Anak-anak senang kode dan rahasia, dan Da Vinci Code yang populer beberapa waktu lalu juga banyak dibaca pembaca muda. (mengingat beberapa teman sempat mengeluhkan anak-anak mereka yang melahap buku Dan Brown itu.)
Untuk anak-anak yang pernah membaca DVC dan memahaminya, Secret Breakers akan terasa terlalu mudah, sangat kanak-kanak. Tapi justru itulah poinnya. Secret Breakers akan membawa anak-anak kembali pada keasyikan memecahkan kode yang melibatkan mereka, bukan yang "terlalu jauh" dari dunia mereka.
Aku ingin merekomendasikannya kepada teman-teman. Semoga ada penerbit Indonesia yang tertarik menerbitkan versi Indonesianya.
February 19, 2020
I was a bit unsure of what to expext when I decided this book was the one I wanted to read next but Wow it was definetly worth picking up this book. The Book is all about Code-breaking and the characters like Brodie which feature in this book are obsessed in deciphering codes to lead them to a book which will allow them to read and understand a never understood manuscript before (which is said to contain amazing secrets but since no has been able to understand it well no one really knows). Along with 5/6 others Brodie sets of on adventure to crack the puzzlimg codes left by Van der Essen (spelling may be wrong) but the three younger members of the group haven't been told all of the true story - secrets of their safety are being kept unknown. They are not safe not when they are looking for a manuscript that Level 5 don't want anyone to ever read. Brodie and the others start an adventure that is : puzzling, dangerous, all about history and out of the box thinking and finally some questions about people's past that start arising... But may not be answerable for the good of the Brodie !!!
April 25, 2024
The Power of Three is the first book in a series for young adults. It's about a group of young people who are drawn together by a secret society to try and work out what a book of code means. It sounds simple, but they are not the first to try. Many people have attempted to decipher the code, including the mother of one of the youngsters, which ended badly.
I enjoyed the storyline and the characters go well together (except one has a habit of using food saying (along the line of "what the gravy boat does that mean?"), which gets a bit annoying after a while. Apart from that small annoyance, it's a great story.
The research behind the stories was quite interesting too. It was obvious that the author did her research. I enjoyed learning new things and it gave the story more depth.
The blurb states the series is a Da Vinci Code for kids. I have to agree, but it was better (in my opinion) because I've read the Da Vinci Code and it felt like an information dump, which I did not enjoy one bit. The Power of Three did share a lot of research, but it was done in a much better way, which didn't distract or lessen the effect of the storyline.
I enjoyed the storyline and the characters go well together (except one has a habit of using food saying (along the line of "what the gravy boat does that mean?"), which gets a bit annoying after a while. Apart from that small annoyance, it's a great story.
The research behind the stories was quite interesting too. It was obvious that the author did her research. I enjoyed learning new things and it gave the story more depth.
The blurb states the series is a Da Vinci Code for kids. I have to agree, but it was better (in my opinion) because I've read the Da Vinci Code and it felt like an information dump, which I did not enjoy one bit. The Power of Three did share a lot of research, but it was done in a much better way, which didn't distract or lessen the effect of the storyline.
April 8, 2013
Imagine the chance to solve the Voynich Manuscript - a puzzle that has truly defeated adults for centuries.
It's an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.
A secret hidden for centuries.
But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She's chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.
But it's a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.
Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them - and will even kill to stop them.
In this original new series, three children tackle real unsolved mysteries and struggle with real unbroken codes to get to the hidden truth. A Da Vinci Code for kids ...
May 26, 2013
I am reading this series of books as part of our Guardian book group reviews because the third in the series was sent as the review book and I cannot bring myself to read the 3rd book in a series out of sequence. This first book introduces the three children and the plot is quite interesting and mysterious. I liked the code-breaking aspect but when it has been hailed on the back of the book as a kids Da Vinci Code I think that is a little bit far-reaching. I did like the characters and Brodie was my favourite but the "government" operatives who try to stop them finding the code book are not all that thrilling or complex which was a little bit of a disappointment and let the story down a touch. I will definitely read the rest of the series as this book ends on a fairly big cliff-hanger and i am intrigued to find out what happens but I do hope the other two now that the characters have been set up are most fast-paced.
June 29, 2013
Definitely more aimed at the younger reader than "young adult". A good story and not condescending. It covers a fair few different methods of creating/breaking secret codes and has a good enough story to go with it.
There seems like a fair bit of repeated text as the characters go over (and over) certain sections. Not unrealistic, but still made me want to skim-read sections.
I did like that the majority of "mysteries" were solved using clues presented earlier in the book. This gives the reader a chance of actually solving the mystery before the secret is revealed.
The blurb compares it to the Da Vince Code but, you know, for kids. Well, it's not quite up there as per depth of story, but the written dialogue is far superior.
There seems like a fair bit of repeated text as the characters go over (and over) certain sections. Not unrealistic, but still made me want to skim-read sections.
I did like that the majority of "mysteries" were solved using clues presented earlier in the book. This gives the reader a chance of actually solving the mystery before the secret is revealed.
The blurb compares it to the Da Vince Code but, you know, for kids. Well, it's not quite up there as per depth of story, but the written dialogue is far superior.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews