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Book Three: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
Book Four: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
Book Five: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman
Book Six: In Too Deep by Jude Watson
Book Seven: The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
Book Eight: The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman
Book Nine: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
Book Ten: Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Book Eleven: Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman & Jude Watson
Publisher: Scholastic
Website: The 39 Clues
During my mini-vacation in the Philippines, I was able to borrow and read the first eleven 39 Clues books from my cousin Carmela. I had already read most of this series before I left two years ago, but I'm definitely happy to have been able to reread it again.
The story revolves around a family, the Cahills, and its various branches as they search for the 39 clues - ingredients to an important thing that will allow the person who has them all to have the most powerful position in the world. Their adventures and mishaps take them all over the world, with crazy puzzles, death-defying action, and various betrayals and alliances.
The books mainly focuses on Amy and Dan, Cahills who are a bit out of the loop, especially as they've been orphaned for a long time. It's through their wits, their smarts and sometimes pure luck that they manage to stay one step ahead or to figure out where to go next.
Though written by a variety of authors, I personally think that the writing flows smoothly from one book to the next. I'm not sure how they managed to accomplish this (great editing, perhaps?), but I think it's wonderful. They've certainly achieved something monumental and great with this series - and it's definitely one of my favorites. (And, by the way, one of the authors is one of my favorite authors - Rick Riordan!)
Other than the story itself, there's an interactive site where readers can become a part of the quest to find the 39 clues. It's a lot of fun (though definitely can be tough on the brain), and I'd recommend it for fans. There's also a special part where you can use the cards that come with each book on the site as well.
This series is cool, easy to read and just pure fun. Though a lot of the situations are crazy and fantastical, it's a great what-if series, as in what if things were really like this or what if you had the choices Amy and Dan face. You also actually learn new bits of trivia all the time, because they're traveling to so many places, and I actually think that's cool!
The 39 Clues is definitely a fun series to read, and not just for the younger audience it's geared towards. I'm definitely a little older than the target audience, but I loved it nonetheless. So I hope everyone gives this series a try!
This sounds neat! And you went to the Philippines!? How cool! I haven't paid much attention to this book series before and it's cool that it was written by more than one author I don't think I've seen that done before. Sounds like a fun summer series too I'll have to look into it!
ReplyDeleteI've wanted to read this series forever, but have let the number of books in the series, tracking them down, etc prevent me from doing it. I heard Gordon Korman speak about all the research that goes into these books and I thought that was so cool.
ReplyDeleteI think it's awesome that you said there isn't a noticeable difference between books despite them being by different authors. I definitely agree with you that there must be some great editing behind the scenes.
And I think it was a brilliant idea to use multiple authors because it draws in fans of different authors to the series and allows them to crank out books faster.
Thanks for your review! You definitely made me want to finally track down all the books in the series and read them!
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews
I've seen this series around for a while. I do not think it's for me, but I am glad you enjoyed it. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the opportunity to do so! I promise you, it's a fun adventure and it doesn't take the long to read one book from the series at all :)
ReplyDeleteI did! I was on vacation for about two months. :) And I hope you pick it up! It's a pretty fun series.
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