YA? novel. Kid finds secret decoder ring (prize) in cereal box? He has an older brother. Kind of gross, super mountain fort awesome-esque drawings/ illustrations in it. Read around 2010-2014.

[Davis]

I'm sorry but that's about all I can remember. I read the book around middle or elementary school, so maybe 2010-2014 ? Sometime around there. I think maybe at one point the kid listens to the radio or something but I truly can't remember. All I remember is he finds a secret decoder ring as a prize in his cereal box and that the drawings in it always grossed me out when I was younger, and I'm pretty sure he had an older brother. And when I say super mountain fort awesome-esque I don't think it's as gnarly as that show but it's just somewhat reminiscent of it. And i think maybe the cover of the book was purple or some other dark cover. I'm unsure. That's all I've got

[Madiha]

Was it a graphic novel or a children's book?
What age was the book targeted for?
I remember my little brother talking about about a book similar to this, but I forgot the title 😭

[Simi]

Is it Free With Every Pack by Robin Kingsland?
From the back of the book.

Waldo stared miserably at his bowl of breakfast cereal. So much for his amazing free gift... all he'd got was a measly bit of folded paper. Little did he realise that this was the start of a daring rescue mission. Could he pull it off - or would he come to a sticky end.

[Rainbowheart]

Free with Every Pack for Simi's suggestion.

[Davis]

I'm gonna bump this as it's on my mind again, I totally forgot about this thread after posting but it is certainly NOT Free With Every Pack as was suggested. The book was for an older audience than that, like 12-14 maybe. I still can only remember there being a decoder ring involved, and that there was an older brother as well. I forget which drawing I found so ugly when reading, but it was either the older brother or his friends, and the drawing intentionally ugly. I still think the cover was kind of purplish, but I'm uncertain on that as well. It also definitely wasn't intended for elementary schoolers.

I associate it with No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman -- not due to any sort of connections in plot or style, but I believe that I read them around the same time and were aimed toward audiences of the same age.

[Rainbowheart]

Cold Cereal?

[Davis]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Cold Cereal?"

Not Cold Cereal either; I don't believe the title had anything to do with cereal, it just so happens that the decoder ring in the cereal box is the thing that stuck with me most from the story, for whatever reason.

[Rainbowheart]

Was the decoder ring a major plot point?

[Davis]

Rainbowheart wrote: "Was the decoder ring a major plot point?"

I wish I could remember more, I think it was a point of conflict in the book but I don't believe it was the main conflict of the book. I truly can't remember much else beyond the ugly drawings and the decoder ring section of the book. I think the cover was purplish, and that it was the younger brother character who got the ring out of the box, and he had an older brother who bullied him about it? I can't totally remember.