Welcome to Code Busters Club

Multiple award-winning author Penny Warner has published over 80 books for adults and children, including the three-time Agatha Award-winning middle grade series, THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB (Lerner). The series has over half a million books in print worldwide. Warner’s non-fiction book, THE OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK, was nominated for an Agatha Award, and her adult mystery, DEAD BODY LANGUAGE, was nominated for an Agatha Award, Anthony Award, and won a Macavity Award for Best First Mystery. 
 

Penny’s books have not only national awards, but they’ve garnered excellent reviews. She regularly speaks and promotes her middle-grade series at elementary schools, presenting “code-busting” events and mystery-writing tips for the students. She brings along “secret packets” for each student filled with code cards and activities. Her events are fun and engaging for the students, as well as educational, helping to build language, writing, and problem-solving skills. She has taught Child Development courses at the college level for over thirty years.  For more information. You can contact her at pennywarnerink@yahoo.com.

THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB (Lerner). 
Book #1: SECRET OF THE SKELETON KEY,
Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Juvenile Mystery

THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB (Lerner) 
Book #2: THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE, 
Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Juvenile Mystery 

THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB (Lerner)
Book #3: MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE’S TREASURE, 
Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Juvenile Mystery

I loved to read mysteries and figure out the puzzles. And I loved cracking codes when I was a kid, so I thought adding codes would make the books even more fun!

I have 3 simple steps to create my mysteries:

1. Character - Begin with an interesting character—like yourself!
    
I take little bits of myself to make them more realistic, such as:
     
Cody Jones – loves to crack codes, and she especially likes American Sign      
Language because she can talk in private without others overhearing her.

Quinn Key – is really good at math (I’m not!), so he loves to solve puzzles and  
play games which help him solve coded messages. 

“M.E.” Maria Elena Esperanto – is a fashionista, and while I’m not so much,
I see her as a creative thinker, which I hope I am.

Luke La Veau – is strong, brave and athletic—and those are things I WANT to
be! Plus he loves word puzzles!

Rika Takeda – is from Japan, and I love all things Japanese, especially
origami. I was actually born in Okinawa! 

 
2. Setting – Set the story in an interesting place that’s also mysterious.

I have set my stories in:
- Haunted House, owned by Skeleton Man
- Alcatraz Prison, where Diamond Dave was incarcerated
- California Mission, robbed by Pirate Bouchard (a real pirate!)
- Egyptian Museum, with a real “live” mummy
- International Spy Museum, where the kids get disguises and spy stuff
- Angel Island, where they find a mysterious “Puzzle Box”
- New Orleans, where they meet zombies
- Gold Mining Cave, where Bigfoot hangs out
- San Francisco Chinatown, where they get completely lost
- The Southwest, where they discover coded petroglyphs
- Ninja Castle in Japan, where they’re chased by a goblin 
- Hawaiian Island, where they learn Dolphin Code
- And Berkeley Cooperative Middle School, a place full of mystery!


3. Plot – Create a story with lots of cliffhangers that keeps reader turning the pages!

Begin with a “What if…”

1. Then have something bad happen! Such as “The science fair project is missing!”
2. Then something worse happens!  “The bully stole it in an attempt to win the science fair.”
3. Then something WORSER happens! “The project backfired, set off the sprinkler system, and everyone soaked!” 
4. Wrap it up with a kid-smart solution! “The bully did it!”

So you’re asking if I ever get stuck? 

Nope. Can you imagine your teacher coming into class one day and saying: “Students! Be Quiet! I have Teacher’s Block. Just sit there until I think of something!”

Here’s what I do if I get a little bit stuck: I ask the question: “What if…” and try a bunch of different possibilities. One of them is bound to work!

​Whoa! A lot.  Here’s a partial list:

American Sign Language
Tap Code
Morse Code
Semaphore Code
George Washington Code
Pigpen Code
Flag Code
Caesar’s Cipher
Military Code
Steganography
Telephone Code
Phonetic Alphabet code
Alpha-Numeric Code
Book Code
Zigzag Code
Reverse alphabet code
Backward code
More TK…