Twelve-year-old Zoe Bennett goes to a private school for gifted students, but she hasn’t yet found her own “gift.”  For Zoe, that’s a problem, though it is one that lots of public school students would probably be willing to trade for.   Still, with a sister who’s a talented actress and a brother who’s a math whiz, Zoe is seen as an outsider at her school, and is the prime suspect when mysterious notes start showing up in lockers around the school.

Though many kids may not identify with the special school, they will identify with a girl who feels like she’s not part of the “in” crowd.  And the all -too -familiar cliques, rumors,  and mean kids are here too.  Zoe finally does discover something she’s interested in when Lucas, the nerdy new student, drops his notebook,  Zoe sees that it’s written in code, and discovers that she can read it.

Classes in Zoe’s specialty, cryptoanalysis, might not be offered at most schools, but the lessons Zoe learns about making friends and fitting in are pretty much the same everywhere.

There’s an answer key for the ciphers, plus bibliographies with books on codes and ciphers, and also on Mayan civilization and writing.