The Maze of Bones
The 39 Clues Series
Rick Riordan

Scholastic (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-545-06039-7 (0545060397)
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-06039-4 (9780545060394)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $12.99

Review: Competition, mystery, and near death experiences, what do these have in common? A tremendous book called The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones written by Rick Riordan, and the first in its series. It has a very intriguing story line that made me want to keep reading and never stop. I think this would be great for any younger reader.

Dan (11 years old) and Amy (14 years old) live with an au pair because their parents died in a fire leaving their Great Aunt Beatrice as their guardian. Every weekend, Dan and Amy go to the Cahill Mansion where their Grandmother Grace Cahill lives. In the beginning of the story Grace dies and she selects a few family members, including Dan and Amy, to hear her will. Grace’s will gives the people in the room two choices, either enter a dangerous competition which will be completed when 39 clues are revealed or have a chance or take a million dollars each. If Dan and Amy choose to enter the competition they could end up being very influential people, but they will be disowned by their aunt because she doesn’t want them to take the challenge. But, Dan and Amy take the chance of dying and enter the contest. Their rich and dangerous cousins, aunts, and uncles take the challenge as well, and they all get the first clue. The family members compete against Dan and Amy because they don’t want Dan and Amy to get the power. Although the family members compete against one another, they mainly target Dan and Amy, but will kill each other if it becomes necessary. What will happen next? Will they survive the challenge?

This book deserves 5 out of five stars because the book is very intriguing and made me want to keep reading. The author described the setting and the thoughts of the main characters very well. For example, the Cahill mansion was very well described with all the details about the inside and outside during the funeral. The author also did a good job in describing the important characters physical appearance. It is difficult for me to find anything I did not like about this book. Overall I recommend this to any younger reader from third to seventh grade, however everyone would enjoy reading this great book.

Review written by Kevin, Grade 6. Date of review: February 2010.

Review: Dan Cahill and his sister Amy live with their great Aunt Beatrice in a tiny apartment. Their grandmother, Grace, recently passed away. Amy and Dan are hoping that they will inherit the mansion and fortune. But, at the funeral, people, and only certain people, have tickets in their program, enabling them to inherit part of Grace’s fortune. Amy and Dan are overjoyed when they get tickets. They aren’t so happy when the Holts, Kabras, and their celebrity cousin, Jonah Wizard, also get tickets. But, there is a twist. Mr. McIntyre tells the inheritors that you can either take the money, one million dollars, or you can get a clue to a very dangerous quest involving all 4 branches of the Cahill family: Lucian, Tomas, Janus, and Ekaterina.

The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones is very much like The Amazing Race, just much more dangerous. Also, it is somewhat humorous. It resembles The Amazing Race because the main characters get to travel around the world, solving clues and facing dangers. It is a much more dangerous version of The Amazing Race because there is poison, dart guns, and concussive bombs! It is a quest that means life or death for the family. It is very exciting, and it keeps you on pins and needles. If you have plans for putting this book down, you may as well cancel those plans because you just can’t find enough will to. Even if you had all of the will power in the world, you wouldn’t have enough!

The plot of the book is very well thought out, and it is a book that you can read if you are in 3rd grade or if you are a young adult looking for an adventurous read. Also, if you want a quick read that is really exciting and fun, I recommend this amazingly fantastic book. You won’t be disappointed at all! All in all, I give this book 2 thumbs up! If I could, I would give it 10,000 thumbs up, but I don’t have that many thumbs.

Review written by Brittany, Grade 6. Date of review: October 2008.

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