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The Maze of Bones
(The 39 Clues #1)
by
When their beloved aunt--matriarch of the world's most powerful family--dies, orphaned siblings Amy and Dan Cahill compete with less honorable Cahill descendants in a race around the world to find cryptic clues to a mysterious fortune.
Book includes game cards which the reader may use to play an online version of the treasure hunt. ...more
Book includes game cards which the reader may use to play an online version of the treasure hunt. ...more
Hardcover, First, 220 pages
Published
September 1st 2008
by Scholastic, Inc.
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Start your review of The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, #1)

Book one of The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, by author Rick Riordan, is an exciting young readers adventure book that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat; your toilet seat. That's because the only place worth reading this book is while you've got a few minutes of privacy on the porcelain throne.
Amy and Dan Cahill are typical squabbling siblings who believe one another are the most annoying brother and sister in the world. However, that all changes when they get summoned to their mega ...more
Amy and Dan Cahill are typical squabbling siblings who believe one another are the most annoying brother and sister in the world. However, that all changes when they get summoned to their mega ...more

The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, #1), Rick Riordan
The Maze of Bones is the first novel of The 39 Clues series, written by Rick Riordan and published September 9, 2008 by Scholastic. It stars Amy and Dan Cahill, two orphans who discover, upon their grandmother Grace's death, that they are part of the powerful Cahill family, whose members constantly fight each other for Clues, which are ingredients to a mysterious serum. The novel has received generally positive reviews.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیس ...more
The Maze of Bones is the first novel of The 39 Clues series, written by Rick Riordan and published September 9, 2008 by Scholastic. It stars Amy and Dan Cahill, two orphans who discover, upon their grandmother Grace's death, that they are part of the powerful Cahill family, whose members constantly fight each other for Clues, which are ingredients to a mysterious serum. The novel has received generally positive reviews.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیس ...more

3 Silver Stars
with Golden Sparks
yay! Another middle grade I enjoyed.
Dan & Amy were great! & Nellie! I really liked them. & their character's developments & their relationship.
many characters were unnerving & cheaters! (not the protagonists, thankfully!) but the constant chain of chases to solve the puzzles & the Clue hunts were interesting.
It was not as great as Camp Half-blood chronicles (the whole Riordanverse is a masterpiece!) & in this world there are no magic or myths (not yet at least) & ...more
with Golden Sparks
yay! Another middle grade I enjoyed.
Dan & Amy were great! & Nellie! I really liked them. & their character's developments & their relationship.
many characters were unnerving & cheaters! (not the protagonists, thankfully!) but the constant chain of chases to solve the puzzles & the Clue hunts were interesting.
It was not as great as Camp Half-blood chronicles (the whole Riordanverse is a masterpiece!) & in this world there are no magic or myths (not yet at least) & ...more

I've signed up for an online account, and am told I am a Lucien. Let the hunt begin. One of my 7th grade teachers read aloud the first chapter to her 130 students on Friday. Guess how many requests I have for the book now?
I finished the book last night, have entered one set of cards and unlocked my first clue, and have mastered the first five tasks the online game has presented to me. I wanted to be able to answer student questions about how to play or what was required. I plan to raffle off (fo ...more
I finished the book last night, have entered one set of cards and unlocked my first clue, and have mastered the first five tasks the online game has presented to me. I wanted to be able to answer student questions about how to play or what was required. I plan to raffle off (fo ...more

Adventurous and exciting treasure hunt with great humor. The information about Benjamin Franklin and the scenes in Paris were interesting. A really intriguing start of the series.


A few minutes later they stood in a muddy graveyard, looking up at the dark silhouette of St-Pierre de Montmartre. The church was made of gray stone slabs. A single square bell tower rose from the left-hand side, topped with a lightning rod and cross. Dan thought the building looked angry and resentful. If churches...more

Grace Cahill changed her will moments before she died. For Amy and Dan, the loss of Grace, their grandmother, is a terribly sad event. They will miss their weekends spending time at the family mansion hearing stories of Grace’s past adventures and exploring the many rooms.
After the funeral, certain family members are invited to the reading of the will. Amy and Dan are included. Everyone is anxious to find out what their inheritance will be. No one expects what happens. Everyone is given a choice ...more
After the funeral, certain family members are invited to the reading of the will. Amy and Dan are included. Everyone is anxious to find out what their inheritance will be. No one expects what happens. Everyone is given a choice ...more

The Maze of Bones "Is this book for me?" Checklist
☐ I love clue hunts and solving puzzles!
☐ I want to feel like a child again
☐ I was once a ninja
☐ My grandmother is crazy but pretty cool
☐ My family constantly fights over money
☐ I have social anxiety
☐ I wish my cat had silver fur ...more
☐ I love clue hunts and solving puzzles!
☐ I want to feel like a child again
☐ I was once a ninja
☐ My grandmother is crazy but pretty cool
☐ My family constantly fights over money
☐ I have social anxiety
☐ I wish my cat had silver fur ...more

In Which Rick Riordan Attempts
Another
Harry Potteresque Cash Cow.
Good God, is this man the most shameless author currently working in children's literature? First the highly derivative (but at least marginally entertaining) Percy Jackson, and now this - a hokey National Treasure meets Amazing Race mash-up? 10 books, each written by a different author, that follow a sibling duo as they globetrot, attempting to piece together the titular clues in order to reveal a single earth-shattering pri ...more
Good God, is this man the most shameless author currently working in children's literature? First the highly derivative (but at least marginally entertaining) Percy Jackson, and now this - a hokey National Treasure meets Amazing Race mash-up? 10 books, each written by a different author, that follow a sibling duo as they globetrot, attempting to piece together the titular clues in order to reveal a single earth-shattering pri ...more

I really don't plan on ever reading this series again I'm just not a big fan anymore
...more

Reads like Luke W. was the ghostwriter. (Which means it's really good!) Starts with a bang!
I read this one pretty quickly, as it is definitely a page-turner. My expectations may have been excessively high, due to the fact that I like Rick Riordan and I've heard so much buzz about Scholastic's hope to keep themselves big in the post-Harry Potter market with this new "multi-platform" series (books, trading cards, internet game, and cash prizes). I'm giving this four stars and not five for the fact ...more
I read this one pretty quickly, as it is definitely a page-turner. My expectations may have been excessively high, due to the fact that I like Rick Riordan and I've heard so much buzz about Scholastic's hope to keep themselves big in the post-Harry Potter market with this new "multi-platform" series (books, trading cards, internet game, and cash prizes). I'm giving this four stars and not five for the fact ...more

I'm just glad 7 yro me put this down bc a lot of years later this was still thrilling 😂
Anywayssss really good and fast book! 😌 ...more
Anywayssss really good and fast book! 😌 ...more

3.5 stars!
There might be spoilers
A thrilling treasure hunt! I enjoyed this book a lot. It was fast paced, with good characters and intriguing plotline. But I guess this was not what I was expecting (hence the rating). To be clear, I enjoyed every moment in the book but that's it. After finishing it the feeling didn't last long. And maybe I'd thought they'd get some sort of treasure in the end or there would an actual maze to explore (that's the reason I started reading it in first place).
Anyw ...more
There might be spoilers
A thrilling treasure hunt! I enjoyed this book a lot. It was fast paced, with good characters and intriguing plotline. But I guess this was not what I was expecting (hence the rating). To be clear, I enjoyed every moment in the book but that's it. After finishing it the feeling didn't last long. And maybe I'd thought they'd get some sort of treasure in the end or there would an actual maze to explore (that's the reason I started reading it in first place).
Anyw ...more

Grace Cahill has left behind her will and she has given those on the list a choice to take one million dollars or to be given a clue. That clue is one of 39 keys to unlocking the Cahills' greatest secret. Her grandson and granddaughter Dan and Amy are surprised their grandma gave them no warning given how close they were to her. Pitted against distant relatives, the siblings embark on the clue hunt which proves to be dangerous as they are seen as the prime contenders to solving the whole mystery
...more

Well, I've read MOST of it. The ARC is missing the ending. Scholastic did that on purpose because it is all part of the game, the cards, etc.
What I read was fun, but not amazing. It appears to be an Amazing Race sort of book --- a bunch of different groups all chasing around the world for clues that will solve a big mystery. This first one sets things up. Two kids (younger boy is a gaming/computer guy while the older sister is a shy bookworm) and their au pair (just happens to know the right la ...more
What I read was fun, but not amazing. It appears to be an Amazing Race sort of book --- a bunch of different groups all chasing around the world for clues that will solve a big mystery. This first one sets things up. Two kids (younger boy is a gaming/computer guy while the older sister is a shy bookworm) and their au pair (just happens to know the right la ...more

DECEMBER 2020 RE-READ REVIEW:
This one gets more immature each time. I appreciate that I'm no longer the target audience, and accept I'm too old for it now, but I do really love the action and fast-moving pace of it. I like the multi-POV and the narrator's accents, and I like Amy's social awkwardness and anxiety.
***************************
Read this one a few times now, and still enjoy it every time :) I've just never gotten around to finishing the series, and I hope to this time. Sometimes I find ...more
This one gets more immature each time. I appreciate that I'm no longer the target audience, and accept I'm too old for it now, but I do really love the action and fast-moving pace of it. I like the multi-POV and the narrator's accents, and I like Amy's social awkwardness and anxiety.
***************************
Read this one a few times now, and still enjoy it every time :) I've just never gotten around to finishing the series, and I hope to this time. Sometimes I find ...more

Wow, I have been wanting to read this book since fifth grade, but I just never got to it. I always was reading 'I survived' back then.
The book starts of boring then gets better and better. It is about two kids and when they go to there grandma's funeral. They get invited to a 'scavenger hunt' to be the most powerful cahill ever. Benjamin Franklin was a cahill, and the two kids have to go around finding his clues to the thirty-nine clues. It is actually a very good story, authors take turns writi ...more
The book starts of boring then gets better and better. It is about two kids and when they go to there grandma's funeral. They get invited to a 'scavenger hunt' to be the most powerful cahill ever. Benjamin Franklin was a cahill, and the two kids have to go around finding his clues to the thirty-nine clues. It is actually a very good story, authors take turns writi ...more

After starting this one way back in on Christmas, my 8-year-old and I finally finished this one up! This was a really great book to read out loud. The story was entertaining for both of us, and we're ready to move a little faster in the series now.
...more

A million dollars or 1 peace of paper,a clue!
When grace Cahill dies she uncoveres the big secret of the ancient Cahill. In her funeral you get a choice rather a million dollars or 1 clue that can make you the most powerful human being in the history.
I would truly recommend this book to my family, friends and tweenagers with a taste of mystery fiction
The 39 clues is a truly adventureous story brought to life by Rick Riordan.
One of the best things about this book is its adventureous content and a ...more
When grace Cahill dies she uncoveres the big secret of the ancient Cahill. In her funeral you get a choice rather a million dollars or 1 clue that can make you the most powerful human being in the history.
I would truly recommend this book to my family, friends and tweenagers with a taste of mystery fiction
The 39 clues is a truly adventureous story brought to life by Rick Riordan.
One of the best things about this book is its adventureous content and a ...more

If you liked The Westing Game, Chasing Vermeer and enjoyed the movie National Treasure, this book will at the very least not put you to sleep. But if you're looking for a piece of kids' fiction that will knock your socks off the way Harry Potter knocked most of our socks off, this ain't it.
This is the first in a series that publishing house Scholastic hopes will buoy its financial success along after the conclusion of the Harry Potter series. If only this book were nearly as complex, well-writt ...more
This is the first in a series that publishing house Scholastic hopes will buoy its financial success along after the conclusion of the Harry Potter series. If only this book were nearly as complex, well-writt ...more

My review copy of The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (Scholastic, 2008) came with 6 game cards embedded in the cover. After musing about how this would work in the public library, it occurred to me to read John Mason’s accompanying letter – library editions, of course, will feature reinforced binding and NO game cards.
Game cards? Yes, this is one of those “it’s a book! And a trading-card game! And an online game!” multi-platform series thingies. There will be ten books (outlined by Rick Riordan a ...more
Game cards? Yes, this is one of those “it’s a book! And a trading-card game! And an online game!” multi-platform series thingies. There will be ten books (outlined by Rick Riordan a ...more

My third grader's reading tests came back: he's reading at a fifth grade level. Yay! This means we need to find some good middle grade books! The Maze of Bones is a great start. Amy and Dan are orphans, and their grandmother has also recently passed away. When the whole extended family gathers for the reading of the will, however, they're given an ultimatum: take a million dollar payout, or embark on a dangerous adventure that may change the world.
There's enough adventure here to keep my stepso ...more
There's enough adventure here to keep my stepso ...more

Feb 09, 2010
Eliza fuller
is currently reading it
i am on chapter twelve and i am at the part where they are following iriana in paris and they have found the headquarters of one of the branches in there family.

I will never stop obsessing over this series ! I wish I could read it for the first time again !! 😭🥰

3.5 stars
In this novel, we are introduced to Amy and Dan Cahill. Their lives are changed when sadly their grandma Grace dies. At the funeral, all members of the Cahill family are given a challenge from Grace. Each member is offered the choice of either money or a clue to a riddle to a prize any Cahill will die for. Amy and Dan are thus on a treasure hunt around the world against their relatives in search of the prize...However, they bargained more than what they asked for when they face dangers ...more
In this novel, we are introduced to Amy and Dan Cahill. Their lives are changed when sadly their grandma Grace dies. At the funeral, all members of the Cahill family are given a challenge from Grace. Each member is offered the choice of either money or a clue to a riddle to a prize any Cahill will die for. Amy and Dan are thus on a treasure hunt around the world against their relatives in search of the prize...However, they bargained more than what they asked for when they face dangers ...more

I can't decide fully how much I liked this book. It really depends on the rest of the series. It was fun to read. It was very much like National Treasure though, which I do love.
These relatives of a deceased woman are put up to a challenge that could make them the most powerful of their family...or of the world...
It was a bit annoying...and this could be a little bit of a spoiler (so sorry if this bugs you...but I don't think it gives much away)....at how often when Amy and Dan found clues anot ...more
These relatives of a deceased woman are put up to a challenge that could make them the most powerful of their family...or of the world...
It was a bit annoying...and this could be a little bit of a spoiler (so sorry if this bugs you...but I don't think it gives much away)....at how often when Amy and Dan found clues anot ...more

I was impressed with the first book in the "39 Clues" series.
I thought that it was going to just be a non-stop action adventure book for boys but it turns out to be something more.
The first book in the series "The Maze of Bones" is written by Rick Riordan, the author of the very popular Lightening Thief series. And each book following will be written by an acclaimed junior fiction author; Gordon Korman has penned the second in the series.
What I enjoyed is the amount of history, archaeology and ...more
I thought that it was going to just be a non-stop action adventure book for boys but it turns out to be something more.
The first book in the series "The Maze of Bones" is written by Rick Riordan, the author of the very popular Lightening Thief series. And each book following will be written by an acclaimed junior fiction author; Gordon Korman has penned the second in the series.
What I enjoyed is the amount of history, archaeology and ...more

Well this is practically the 2nd time i've read this book. The 1st time i read it, it wasn't actually pleasent. I mean the charecters, the plot, the puzzle solving everything was okay but the writing style!!! It was awful!!! But wait! i've read it in Bengali then, the translated one! It made all the differences. No one write like uncle rick actually. The humor he writes with, the wits, the detailing everything is just awesome when HE writes it. No one can translate that i guess :).
Now the book ...more
Now the book ...more

A Quickie Review
A rollicking start to a literary series; I felt like I was watching a Nickelodeon or Disney Channel action/adventure serial. Can't wait to read the rest of them! ...more
A rollicking start to a literary series; I felt like I was watching a Nickelodeon or Disney Channel action/adventure serial. Can't wait to read the rest of them! ...more
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39 clues : Maze of Bones (Book 1) | 1 | 1 | Apr 21, 2021 05:35AM | |
Why this book and series is good | 1 | 2 | Feb 25, 2021 06:10AM | |
Action | 1 | 1 | Jan 27, 2021 06:11AM |
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“She led the way. Eyeless sockets of the dead seemed to stare at them as they passed.
"These are cool," Dan decided. "Maybe I could-"
"No, Dan," Amy said. "You can't collect human bones."
"Awww.”
—
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"These are cool," Dan decided. "Maybe I could-"
"No, Dan," Amy said. "You can't collect human bones."
"Awww.”
“I've got a few ideas," (Amy) admitted. "But I don't know where we're going in the long term. I mean - have you ever thought about what this ultimate treasure could be?"
"Something cool." (Dan)
"Oh, that's real helpful. I mean, what could make somebody the most powerful Cahill in history? And why thirty-nine clues?"
Dan shrugged. "Thirty-nine is a sweet number. It's thirteen times three. It's also the sum of five prime numbers in a row - 3,5,7,11,13. And if you add the first three powers of three, 3 to the first, 3 to the second, and s to the third, you get thirty-nine."
Amy stared at him. "How did you know that?"
"What do you mean? It's obvious.”
—
133 likes
More quotes…
"Something cool." (Dan)
"Oh, that's real helpful. I mean, what could make somebody the most powerful Cahill in history? And why thirty-nine clues?"
Dan shrugged. "Thirty-nine is a sweet number. It's thirteen times three. It's also the sum of five prime numbers in a row - 3,5,7,11,13. And if you add the first three powers of three, 3 to the first, 3 to the second, and s to the third, you get thirty-nine."
Amy stared at him. "How did you know that?"
"What do you mean? It's obvious.”