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.

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