The 39 Clues 1 – The Maze of Bones

Rick Riordan's Maze of Bones is a treasure-hunt mystery for 9 year olds that begins with two orphans setting fire to two million dollars.

What happens

It's the first book in the 39 Clues series. Amy Cahill is fourteen, loves books and hates crowds. Her brother Dan is eleven. He collects everything (baseball cards, old coins, rubbings of gravestones) and is fairly sure he's a ninja.

Their grandmother Grace has just died. At the reading of her will, about forty relatives are given a choice. Take a million dollars each and walk away, or give it up for a single clue in a hunt for the family's great secret. The lawyer says it could make them the most powerful people on earth. It could also kill them.

Most of the room takes the money. The ones who don't make a brilliant set of rivals. There are the Holts in matching purple tracksuits, who flip Dan upside down at the funeral. There are Ian and Natalie Kabra, rich and polished and very mean. There's a teenage TV star, a Russian woman who works alone and an old inventor who wants to be friends.

And there are Amy and Dan, who have hardly any money at all. Would you give up a million dollars for a clue? Amy picks up the lighter and burns both their vouchers.

The chapters swap between the two of them, which is half the fun. Dan is cheeky and fearless and says exactly what he thinks. Amy stammers when she's put on the spot, and when the Kabras sneer at her you really feel it. So when she finally finds her voice it's a proper cheering moment!

Then the clue arrives. It's ten words long and makes no sense to anyone, and suddenly every team is racing out of the door. Amy does what she always does when she needs an answer. She heads for the library.

There's some sadness in the mix, which is good to know. Grace dies in the very first chapter, and Amy and Dan lost their parents years ago. There are plenty of warnings that the hunt is dangerous, too, and a mysterious group called the Madrigals to beware of. It never feels grim though. It moves fast and it's funny.

What to read next

If your reader likes a puzzle and a race against the clock, this one will grab them. And if they're after more of Rick Riordan's kids finding out the world is much bigger than they thought, try The Lightning Thief, where twelve-year-old Percy's school trip to a museum goes very, very wrong.