If you aren't familiar with the 39 Clues series, it's a series of middle-grade action/adventure books written by different middle-grade authors. Rick Riordan, well-known for his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, wrote the first book. In it we are introduced to Dan and Amy, teen/tweens whose parents are dead and whose grandmother has just passed away. At the reading of her will, the kids, along with other members of their extended family, are given the opportunity to search for 39 Clues or to walk away with a million dollars.
Of course the kids decide to hunt for the clues, what kind of story would it be otherwise? 39 ways to spend your time on your yacht? As you might imagine, they end up running around all over the world in search of these clues. You have to suspend quite a lot of disbelief to enjoy the series, but the fast pace and pretty accurate historical/geographic detailing is interesting and a good launching-off point for discussions with your middle-grade reader. Be warned, though, parent death is a prevalent theme, and in virtually each book there's some expectation that some character or another has died (in true Scooby-Doo-like fashion, that whole death thing rarely seems to stick.)
===39 Clues Book 7 - The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis
A good installment in the 39 Clues franchise. The book opens where the previous one left off, on an island near Krakatoa. It quickly moves to South Africa and the book stays there for the duration, which is unusual for these books.
As is true with other 39 clues books, there are a thousand and eleven daring rescues, impossible escapes, and incredible coincidences, but it was an enjoyable read. I liked the way this author managed the various themes necessary for this particular installment. My only wish is that they had done some more teasing for the big reveal of Dan and Amy's family branch - as it's been some months since I read the previous titles, I can't recall where the one mentioned fits in (and it wasn't mentioned elsewhere in this particular title.)
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