1st
Place 2010 Boys’ Life
Reading Contest Winner
(9-10
Years Old Division):
Nathaniel Griffis, 10, Troop 452, Citrus County, Fl. (“The Maze of Bones” Book One of The 39 Clues)
“The Maze of Bones” is book one in a series following the adventures of Amy and Dan Cahill as they search for unimaginable power. These books were awesome because of the excitement, education and enjoyment of collecting clues and solving puzzles along with the main characters.
The book opens with Amy and Dan having to make an exciting choice: to either take a million dollars and leave, or join the race with the other branches of the family to find the 39 clues. These clues lead to the components needed to make the Philosopher’s Stone and restore the balance of the world. They accept the challenge and find their first clue in a hidden library just as the mansion bursts into flames and they barely escape by crawling out an air duct. This clue leads them to board a plane for Paris where they break into a family stronghold to steal items that will help them continue their search. They are chased by distant family members from there into the catacombs under Paris and exit the tunnels only to find themselves in the underground subway system facing an oncoming train. Narrowly avoiding death again, they track the next clue to a church where their next discovery is stolen from them. With only a slip of paper to go on, they head to Vienna, Austria, for the adventure to continue in the next book.
The book is packed with educational and factual information. As the children travel around the globe to places such as Europe, Egypt, Russia, Japan, China and Australia, they use geography and history to discover the locations of possible new clues. The clues were hidden many centuries ago, and the children have to investigate the lives of distant relatives, such as Ben Franklin and Wolfgang Mozart, to find them.
Each book in the series is like a riddle inside an overall riddle. The reader can enjoy solving the smaller puzzles along with the children and collecting the pieces necessary to make the Philosopher’s Stone to solve the overall puzzle. The story is powered by the need to continue following the trail of facts and the enjoyment of collecting all the parts to make the whole.
This was the best book I read this year because of the excitement of the never-ending action and the hunt for a just-out-of-reach power. As I read, I learned about places I have never been, people I have never met and things I have only imagined. I was driven by the need to read all the books, collect all the clues and solve all the puzzles. “The Maze of Bones” was only the start of my quest full of adventure and travel to find 39 Clues and regain the balance of the world.
http://boyslife.org/home/19118/2010-boys-life-reading-contest-winners/