Something you should know about us? If there’s a boarding school, dusty old mansion, or quirky library filled with puzzles, games, riddles, or codes, you’ll find us curled up with our cutest notebooks and a set of colorful pens, ready to solve puzzles and unravel truths. If that sounds like you, then you’ll love this new series, Last Chance Academy, from Debbi Michiko Florence!
A Study in Secrets is the first book in the series, and it’s where we’re introduced to Meg Mizuno, a twelve-year-old girl who’s (understandably) kind of a mess after losing her mom. When she ends up expelled due to cutting class and slipping grades, her dad secures her a spot at Leland Chase Academy, along with an ultimatum. Meg isn’t thrilled about attending a prestigious boarding school, but it’s better than the alternative, being home-schooled by the aunt she can’t stand.
🗝️💌WANT TO WIN A COPY?: We’re giving away TWO! Enter HERE!
Meg is committed to keeping her head down and staying out of trouble, but just as she starts to settle in, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting her to participate in a mysterious, top-secret scavenger hunt. The prize? A stay at a fancy resort in California. With her dad on the verge of selling her family home, the only thing she has left of her mom, Meg is motivated to win so she can use the vacation as a way to bond with her dad and convince him to keep the house so she can hang on to her memories of her mom.
Thankfully, Meg has a knack for cracking codes and ciphers, but each of her classmates also brings their own set of skills to the game – and are just as eager to win. And as these things always go, with each puzzle solved, truths are revealed, and it seems that there’s a lot more to Leland Chase Academy than anyone could ever have expected.
Only Murders in the Building meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in this action-packed novel about a girl pulled into a mysterious treasure hunt at her new boarding school.
Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in the middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.
At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don’t get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home—with all its memories of Mom—Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip to convince Dad to stay.
Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn’t quite what it seems.
Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets
AUTHOR: Debbi Michiko Florence
PUBLISHER: Aladdin
DATE: March 11, 2025
Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets is filled with characters you’ll adore, an addictive mystery you’ll be scrambling to solve, and by the very last page you’ll be bursting with anticipation to find out what happens next.
Want a little taste of what to expect? Our friend and Last Chance Academy author Debbi Michiko Florence couldn’t wait to spill some secrets for our readers, and she did it in the most fun way possible – with puzzles! Solve the puzzles below and see what she shared about this mysterious treasure hunt, Meg’s classmates, and the inspiration for this exciting new series!
Solve These Puzzles to Reveal Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets Fun Facts:
The Mastermind says, solve these puzzles to learn about Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets.
Forward and backward, a true GEM.
ANSWER: Meg
Twelve-year-old Megumi (Meg) Mizuno prides herself on being observant and having a great sense of direction. She loves folding origami and reading manga, and she used to love doing treasure hunts with her mom. These days she only wears black, because two years ago her mom died. And now, she’s being shipped off to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere. When she receives a mysterious invitation to participate in a secret treasure hunt, Meg doesn’t want to play, until she figures out that the grand prize might take her home and reunite her with her dad.
First things first, find what is missing: L_ST CH_NCE _C_DEMY
ANSWER: (The letter “a”) Last Chance Academy
Last Chance Academy is what the students call Leland Chase Academy, because for many of them this is their last-chance school. While the reason most students are at Leland Chase Academy seems to be a private matter, Meg is there because she failed out of her classes in sixth grade. LCA is a huge manor with a maze of halls and stairwells, and hidden rooms. Good thing Meg has an excellent sense of direction!
Numbers for letters, what does this spell? 6 18 9 5 14 4
ANSWER: FRIEND
Meg is determined to avoid making friends because her former best friend betrayed her. There are only three other seventh graders at LCA.
Tana Rabin is Meg’s roommate. Tana is cheerful and friendly, but also smart and highly competitive! Her passion is coding and she’s very talented with computers.
Ryan Hsieh is from a super wealthy family, but he seems to be on the outs with his dad and brothers. Ryan’s super-power is his dazzling personality and his ability to get what he wants with a smile.
Zane Yoshikawa is Ryan’s quiet and sometimes surly roommate. Unlike many of the other students, he’s not from a rich or powerful family. Zane has an anonymous sponsor who enrolled him at LCA after he got into some trouble.
These four classmates are competing against one another to win the mysterious treasure hunt, but when they need to team up, it seems friendship might be on the table.
Solve this riddle:
I’m furry with paws
that sheath sharp claws.
Most humans love me,
but mice see me and flee.
What am I?
ANSWER: A cat
On the day Meg arrives at Leland Chase Academy, she rescues a stray kitten and smuggles him into her dorm room. She names him Sir Grey. Fortunately for Meg, Tana agrees to keep the cat a secret. But keeping secrets can sometimes lead to trouble.
Speaking of secrets, do you want to know something?
While Leland Chase Academy is a made-up school, the manor was inspired by an actual place. Debbi went on a writing retreat in England to start working on Last Chance Academy. She stayed at a place called Harlaxton Manor which was built in 1830 and is surrounded by beautiful gardens.
While exploring the grand and gorgeous manor, Debbi stumbled upon a couple of secret rooms! Both the manor and those secret rooms inspired the setting for Leland Chase Academy. Have fun exploring Last Chance Academy with Meg and her friends!
📚WANNA KNOW A SECRET?: We’re giving away TWO copies of Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets! Click HERE to enter!
