Sign-In
Cart
Break the Code: The Missing Museum Key
Paperback
Early ReadersGeneral Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Aug 6 2026
Pages: 68
Weight: 0.23
Height: 0.14 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
A mystery for kids ages 7 and up that you solve yourself, using a real secret code.
Secret codes are everywhere, hiding in plain sight, waiting for someone clever enough to crack them.
At the Fairmont Natural History Museum, the master key has vanished just hours before the grand opening. Without it, dozens of exhibit cases cannot be opened. The building was locked. Nobody broke in. The suspects are all still inside. And the only clue is a sheet of pale green paper covered in strange little symbols.
Every adult calls it scribbling. Eleven-year-old Olivia Thompson notices that the symbols repeat, and that the gaps fall in the same places every time, like words.
Somebody did not simply take the key. Somebody left a trail.
This interactive detective story invites young readers to investigate alongside Olivia and her best friend Liam as they search dinosaur halls, ancient Egyptian galleries, a fossil lab, and the hidden service tunnels beneath the museum.
Every clue the characters see is also given to the reader. Nothing important is hidden, and every puzzle can be solved.
Readers will crack the Pigpen Cipher, unscramble museum words, study a map, compare boot prints, question suspects, weigh alibis, follow physical evidence, and decide where the investigation goes next.
Careful detectives may work out who took the key before Olivia does. The sharpest readers will also work out why.
Inside this book- A complete mystery adventure for readers ages 8 and up
- Secret messages written in the Pigpen Cipher, a real code more than four hundred years old
- Anagrams, a museum map, boot print evidence, suspect profiles, and hidden clues
- Interactive case files with space to record your answers
- Three possible places to search near the end of the case. Only one is right.
- Bonus codebreaking puzzles, including harder double puzzles
- A complete answer key that explains every clue and how it fits
- A look at the companion workbook, Codes and Codebreaking
All it takes is a pencil, a curious mind, and the determination to keep looking when the answer is not obvious.
Perfect for young mystery fans, beginner codebreakers, reluctant readers, gifted readers who want a real challenge, classrooms and library shelves, family read alouds, road trips, rainy days, and screen free afternoons. A great gift for boys and girls ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.
If your reader enjoys detective stories, spy books, escape room puzzles, brain teasers, or choose your path adventures, this one belongs on their shelf.
The museum is waiting. The key is missing.
Can you break the code and solve the case?
Also from
James, Lucas
Ball Juggling Tricks: Learn Both Easy and Advanced Tricks for Kids and Adults: Juggling for Kids
James, Lucas
Paperback
Also in
General Juvenile Fiction
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two the Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two)
Riordan, Rick
Paperback
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One the Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One)
Riordan, Rick
Paperback
Anne of Green Gables, 3-Book Box Set, Volume I: Anne of Avonlea; Anne of the Island; Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paperback
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters, The: The Graphic Novel
Venditti, Robert
Riordan, Rick
Paperback
Mary Anne Saves the Day: A Graphic Novel (the Baby-Sitters Club #3): Full-Color Edition
Martin, Ann M.
Paperback
Claudia and Mean Janine: A Graphic Novel (the Baby-Sitters Club #4): Full-Color Edition
Martin, Ann M.
Paperback
Dog Man: Big Jim Believes: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #14): From the Creator of Captain Underpants: Volume 14
Pilkey, Dav
Hardcover
Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2: From the Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Kinney, Jeff
Hardcover
Investigators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble
Green, John Patrick
Hastings, Christopher
Hardcover
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #1): Volume 1
Sutherland, Tui T.
Paperback
Dog Man: Big Jim Begins: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #13): From the Creator of Captain Underpants: Volume 13
Pilkey, Dav
Hardcover