I’m thrilled to share that the Explorer Academy series adds a new book series starring Sailor York in Vela Book The Sailor Cipher releasing on April 23, 2024. Sailor York and her classmates in Explorer Academy uncover an elusive animal-smuggling ring. The team faces puzzling obstacles and follows complex clues aboard the new ship, Vela.

Explore Academy series by Trudi Trueit

Welcome to Explorer Academy, the school where kids train to become the next generation of great explorers. Readers will join Cruz and his friends as they embark on an unforgettable global adventure solving mysteries and cracking codes. [middle grade, ages 9 and up]

Take it away, Trudi!

By the time I complete a manuscript, I usually have 50 to 75 pages (or more!) of material I’ve cut along the way. I will have also revised the opening a few times because when you’re staring at a very white, very blank first page, the goal is to write something, anything that will get you into the story. Since Book 7 of the first Explorer Academy series ended with the explorers heading home at the end of their first year at school, it seemed natural to start this new series with Sailor on her way back to the Academy for year two. When I wrote this scene I suspected it would never see the light of day (not enough action), but it’s part of the process. You write and write until you hit upon that sweet spot, an introduction that reels in the reader and reveals the book’s purpose. Or as Kiwi Sailor would say, “The sweet as spot!” So here is my first shot at Chapter One. Compare it to the final version and decide which you prefer!

Explorer Academy Vela: The Sailor Cipher (Book 1) by Trudi Trueit

Adventure, danger, and school on a ship! In a special school to become an explorer, Cruz Coronado embarks on important global missions with his classmates. But he’s hunted by a murderous threat. A threat that seems linked to his mother’s murder. Cruz hopes that by finding his mother’s clues left around the world, he’ll learn her secret formula and unmask his nemesis. [middle grade, ages 9 and up]

“Sailor, wake up! Wake up! We’re gonna crash!”

Eyelids fluttering, Sailor York felt the airplane shudder beneath her head, now wedged between the seat and cabin wall. The back of a wire earring was digging into her skull and the fingers of her left hand were being squeezed together. Hard. “It’s okay, Ana,” croaked Sailor, unfolding herself. “It’s only a little turbulence.”

Anahera Raumati watched a chorus line of mini pretzels dance across her tray. “A little?” she gulped, though she did release her death grip on Sailor.

It had been a long trip—twenty-six hours and counting from New Zealand. Sailor shook the blood back into the white fingertips of one hand while she rubbed away a cramp in her neck with the other.

“Good evening, this is Pilot Sands,” a woman said calmly over the speakers. “Sorry about the air pocket. We’ll be landing at Reagan International in about twenty minutes.”

That would put them into Washington, D.C. after midnight. During their weather delay in Houston, Sailor had called Nyomie Byron, her adviser at Explorer Academy, to say they would be arriving late. With more than 140 students coming in from all over the world at all hours of the day and night, Sailor knew that Nyomie, the other advisers, and the faculty would have their hands full. She’d offered to take a self-driving vehicle into the city.

Now a second year explorer, Sailor was well-versed in using Auto Auto. Plus, the sooner Ana became comfortable with getting around on her own, the better. This would be the twelve-year-old’s first time living away from home and Sailor knew it would be an adjustment. Ana was from Auckland on the North Island, while Sailor lived in Christchurch on the South Island. Returning explorers were often asked to accompany any recruits from their area to school to help make the transition easier. Ana had already peppered Sailor with dozens of questions. Were the teachers hard? Yes, but you’ll have your own faculty. Was the food good? Yes, so, so good! Were the missions dangerous? Sometimes.

“But that’s why we train,” Sailor was quick to add. “You have to learn to work as a team, because one day your teammate might save your life. Or vice-versa.”

Ana began buzz sawing her fingernails with her front teeth.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Sailor.

“You didn’t.” Ana sighed. “It’s just . . . I’ve been so focused on getting into the Academy I never really thought about what would happen once I got there. I won’t know a single soul. What if I don’t make friends? Or fit in with my team?”

Sailor put a hand on her arm. “The Academy is a big change. It takes time to set your mind on what’s ahead, instead of what you left behind. But I did it and you can, too. Plus, you do already know somebody there.”

“I do?”

Sailor cleared her throat. “What am I, lolly cake?”

Ana grinned. And exhaled.

Finally.

In the end, Ana didn’t make the final cut but she did help me find the right open for the book and who knows what the future holds for her?

Trudi Trueit writes the award-winning EXPLORER ACADEMY fact-based fiction series for National Geographic, which has been translated into 20 languages. She is the author of more than 100 fiction and nonfiction titles for kids, including MY TOP SECRET DARES AND DON’TS, THE SISTER SOLUTION, and THE SECRETS OF A LAB RAT series (Simon & Schuster). A Seattle native, she makes her home in Everett, WA with her photographer husband and lives to serve the whims of their three cats. And yes, Trudi Trueit is her real name (by marriage)!

p.s. Related posts:

Explorer Academy Blog Tour

Explorer Academy: The Dragon’s Blood Blog Tour

The Forbidden Island Blog Tour

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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• Junior Library Guild Gold selection
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Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me

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