Clifford B. Hicks (1920–2010)

After rereading The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet I wondered about other childhood favorites. I became obsessed with ciphers as a result of reading this book at age 9 or 10. I didn't remember the story, but I memorized the frequency table, 40+ years ago, and I'll probably be reciting it in my dotage with Alzheimer's. The story seems not especially memorable: Alvin and his friend Shoie happen upon an encoded message in the gutter while walking home from school. Convinced they're on show more the trail of a nefarious plot, they seek decoding assistance from Mr Link, former WWII spy. Mr Link bursts their bubble, but begins to teach them (and Alvin's little sister The Pest who is tagging along) about codes and ciphers. Fortunately for the kids and their newly acquired skills, a real mystery appears: Miss Fenwick is seeking the treasure stolen from her multiple-greats grandfather during the Civil War. And so is "Mr Smith". A critical moment occurs in the library, where the kids encounter "Mr Smith" attempting to decipher the message that tells where the treasure is buried... At the end of the book is an appendix, with more information about ciphers. This I recall is what grabbed me. Warning: there's a cringey bit about slavery, which probably seemed benign when the book was written in 1963, and that didn't register with me as a kid circa 1968.

(read 3 Jul 2011) show less

The warm, tingly feeling that had been smack in the middle of Alvin Fernald's stomach ever since Miss Peppersmith had closed and neatly lined up her books that Friday afternoon, had grown bigger as he and Shoie walked home from school.

Now, here, in his hand, is the reason why! Alvin's sixth sense tells him that the crumpled note holds a secret message in spy code, which is about to catapult the two secret agents plus Alvin's younger sister Daphne, the Pest, into the intricacies of authentic show more code detection and the dangers of a newly stirred-up 100-year-old mystery.

Even Alvin's Magnificent Brain is nearly put on overload before the bang-up solution to the code and the mystery carry the three agents to an ending that is satisfying to all...well, to almost all.

This classic tale from 1963 includes Alvin's own notes on cryptography in an appendix at the back. show less

Alvin Fernald is back! Not only back, but he finds himself in the middle of a mystery as exciting and hilarious as The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald, Alvin's Secret Code and the seven other chaotic adventures of this famous series.

Alvin reaches back to the Civil War, at least figuratively, to bond with a boy who buried a national treasure in order to save it. With the aid of the Pest (Alvin's sister Daphne), and his best friend Shoie, Alvin solves a secret message to reveal the show more whereabouts of the treasure. show less

Review from my 11 year old:

“Alvin invents a paper slinger and uses it to sling papers. One crashes into a window of the old Huntley House. He retrieves it and finds a burger wrapper. He knows Old Mrs. Huntley doesn’t eat take out. Alvin keeps going with new inventions to gather information. Deploys an automatic man-trap and earns the pride of his parents.”

He recommends this to 10/11 year olds.