{"product_id":"top-secret-a-handbook-of-codes-ciphers-and-secret-writing-9780763629724","title":"Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"The author's upbeat, positive tone is refreshing and his enthusiasm about his topic is contagious.\" -- \u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePssst! 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 \u003ci\u003eTop Secret\u003c\/i\u003e won't stay a secret for long. Back matter includes suggestions for further reading, an author's note, an answer key, and an index.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul B. Janeczko\u003c\/b\u003e (1945-2019) was a poet and teacher who edited numerous award-winning poetry anthologies for young people, including \u003ci\u003eA Poke in the I, A Kick in the Head, A Foot in the Mouth, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Death of the Hat, \u003c\/i\u003e all of which were illustrated by Chris Raschka; \u003ci\u003eFirefly July, \u003c\/i\u003eillustrated by Melissa Sweet; and \u003ci\u003eThe Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems, \u003c\/i\u003e illustrated by Richard Jones. He also wrote \u003ci\u003eWorlds Afire; Requiem: Poems of the Terezín Ghetto; Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing; Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War; The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles, \u003c\/i\u003e a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults; and \u003ci\u003eSecret Soldiers: How the U.S. Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJenna LaReau\u003c\/b\u003e is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York. \u003ci\u003eTop Secret\u003c\/i\u003e is her first book with Candlewick Press. She lives in Massachusetts, where she works as an illustrator and designer.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Candlewick Press (MA)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50523725922578,"sku":"9780763629724","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e7e3adc2-65f0-4b15-9c5d-ed60c3ef1705.jpg?v=1731165258","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/top-secret-a-handbook-of-codes-ciphers-and-secret-writing-9780763629724","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}