My 13 year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first Explorer Academy series about Cruz and his quest to complete his mother's cipher. I was excited and intrigued to see that they were coming out with a new series. I'm unclear yet if each book will follow a different character, or if this whole series will be from Sailor's point of view. Considering it involves her sister's disappearance, I'm leaning toward the latter.

It was another fun and adventure filled book on board a brand new ship for the Explorers, and I did enjoy reading the story, and all of the colorful illustrations throughout are beautifully done. It really brings the book alive. However, one of the things I liked about the original EA series was that it was futuristic techy (my made up term, heh), just fun ideas of what technology might do someday mixed in with facts. However, this series went into a weird "magical / mystical / fantasy" side by giving Sailor a "special connection of communicating with animals through thought" (NOT using any sort of technology) which is entirely unrealistic and just downright weird when it wasn't a fantasy series to be begin with.

I also wish they would leave crushes of any sort out of books made for the 8-12 range. It is just completely unnecessary and unhealthy to encourage anything along those lines at this age. I am going to be waiting for the next few books to come out before I commit to adding these to my library.

What worked:
This book is a spin-off of the original Explorer Academy series but this time it features Sailor, a young girl from Australia. The previous books focused on Cruz and he’s still part of the narrative along with most of the other students readers have come to know. A curious twist is Sailor’s secret ability to read the minds of animals she encounters. She doesn’t know if the animals can read her mind too but her grandmother warned Sailor not to use this ability. She doesn’t know the reasons behind her grandmother’s warning but she won’t tell her friends or her other family members. Reader interest will be tickled by Sailor’s hidden ability as they anticipate its possible development. The author also adds two opposing secret organizations to the book for an ongoing conflict, similar to what was found in the original Explorer Academy series.
Science fiction lovers will enjoy the book because of the multitude of cool inventions. The book opens with Sailor and Cruz testing a new communication device that allows people to listen and talk to bottle-nosed dolphins. Students head to the CAVE where they learn from virtual, real-life scenarios from anywhere in the world. All students wear academy uniforms with various abilities including camouflage. Cruz still has his robotic bee that is used for surveillance and other tasks while Sailor is gifted with a similar robotic butterfly. Emmett still wears the glasses he invented so other characters and readers will have a sense of his thoughts and feelings when the colors change. New technology is constantly popping up on the Vela and readers will need to remind themselves that it’s all found on this ship. Pages at the end of the book connect actual people and technology to references in the book.
The purpose of the academy remains dedicated to animals and the environment so readers will learn about and appreciate the importance and wonder of nature. The academy’s big project for this school year is tagging monarch butterflies to track their migratory patterns. It doesn’t sound overly exciting but the author adds a twist later in the book to spice things up. The student teams travel to the Caribbean Sea where they’ll create their own independent studies. Readers will learn about the fascinating history and ecosystem found within the Great Blue, a deep hole that formed after melting following the Ice Age. The characters will use revolutionary diving suits and will be transported to the bottom aboard the academy’s newest, most advanced submersible. Information about flora, fauna, and geography is seamlessly woven into the plot without making the story feel educational.
What didn’t work as well:
The are a few pages depicting Sailor’s journal entries but they’re not necessary. They don’t add much more to what’s already been said so the story can easily be enjoyed without them. However, they’re shown in full color which brightens the book along with all of the other vibrant illustrations.
The final verdict:
The characters will be familiar to fans of the original Explorers Academy and the focus on Sailor adds a wonderful twist. Overall, I highly recommend this to lovers of science and the environment.

Thank you Disney Publishing Worldwide, NatGeo Under the Stars, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this amazing book! The exploration and adventure continue in the new series full of the familiar characters and wonderful writing. Such a fun, awesome start! Can’t wait for the next volume!

Wow how have I missed these books for so long. These are so good. So exciting and action packed. I can’t believe it ended that way, now I can’t wait for more, so please hurry and put more out soon I just can’t wait.

What a great addition to the Explorers Academy Series. I really enjoyed Sailor as the main character. I felt she showed a lot of growth, but it was done with grace and she was never afraid to learn or take chances. I like that this was more geared towards animals and Sailors connection to animals and am looking forward to learning more about this in future stories. I'm also looking forward to how her sister ties into the rest of the series, as she's currently missing! I always enjoy the futuristic technology , learning about new places and I really love the real world people featured at the end of each book. These may be books for kids, but I always learn something new and have fun along the way! I highly recommend this series!


I received a free E-ARC from Disney Publishing Worldwide ,NatGeo Under the Stars & Netgalley for my honest review.

This is a series starter, but a spin-off from the original Explorer Academy books so readers may be familiar with the characters and plot. I had to catch up a bit, and the author does a nice job of reviewing some of the past events or character features that have led us to where we are now. Sailor is a gifted student in the Explorer academy, and some of her gifts she has not yet revealed. Once she begins to accept her leadership role and her ability to work with, not against, some of her challenges, she is able to begin solving the mystery of what happened to her sister and who is stealing secrets.

I especially enjoyed the end notes, where the author discussed the actual science behind the book, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there are insect drones that use biomimicry to learn about an environment or other creatures and deliver data back to scientists. This is great for anyone who is interested in the environment, science, sci-fi, and thrillers.

The Sailor Cipher is the first book in a sequel series to the Explorer Academy books. I recommend the original series multiple times per week in my school library and so I was pumped to get a DRC of this one. I will admit that the first section was a slog as it catches the reader up on the other series. I even set this down and went to another DRC because I did not feel I was in a place to do this justice. I am so glad I picked this back up the next day.

Sailor is an excellent main character and a great way to get more of my female students excited about this series. The scientific details are excellent and I love that science can be used to explain even the more fantastical elements, leaving it as a reading option for students who perhaps cannot read about magic due to religion.

Bringing back the same characters made this a comfortable read for me and I quickly found myself engrossed in this world. I will be recommending this to some of my intermediate elementary students and I am so glad to have gotten a chance to read it for myself. I will be ordering a copy ASAP for our library!

I absolutely LOVED the Explorer Academy series, so when I saw a SECOND series pop up on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it. I have to admit. I didn’t finish reading this one. I made my way through the end of chapter seven but found I was dreading reading because I just wanted to get through this book. It’s much slower than the first series, it lacks the depth of character and place. I felt like many of the main character’s personalities were different as well. One of the things I loved most about the first series is that it boarded so close to reality that it felt like the story almost COULD really happen. I found that magic missing from this one and even found myself double checking to see if it was by the same author. I’m sad, but still so happy to have the first series.

While a great addition to the explorers world, it just did not carry the excitement and plot furthering the parent series held. Don’t get me wrong, this will still be pressed into hands of kids looking for their next great read and I will of course read the next one just maybe not with baited breath .

This would be good to have at a home library or a book for kids to read for fun in the classroom. It was very enjoyable.