The 39 Clues: Book 9
As the kids and I head back into this adventure, we feel like things are finally picking up steam. While this 9th book in The 39 Clues series follows the same standardized formula as all the rest, it answers some questions that we’ve been dying to know.
The standard formula for these books chronicling the adventures of Dan and Amy Cahill in their hunt for their grandmother’s clues goes like this:
- A previous clue leads the kids and their au pair, Nellie, either to their next world location or the next historical figure (or both).
- The kids hunt this clue but are tracked and traced by other distant relatives also in the clue hunt.
- They cooperate with some relatives and are violently hunted by others, but the relatives seem to switch sides so much, that the ones who hunted them last book might be helping them this (or vice versa), seemingly with no rhyme or reason.
- The kids learn some very fictitious history about their supposed ancestors (always famous or semi-famous historical figures), which ultimately leads them to their clues.
- When the kids find their clues (which always includes an ingredient of some sort), they’re then given a hint about where to go to next.
Up to this point, I think the kids have only found nine clues (which has made this dad-reader a little skeptical about how long this series is going to last—though the answer to that riddle finally comes in Book 10). But what they find in this book is a real doozy!
The kids find themselves searching through for the next clue through pirate history in Jamaica. They befriend a man named Lester whose grandmother knew the kids’ own grandmother well. While searching the island, the kids discover several artifacts that, along with a surprise key owned by Nellie, help reveal the clue that will ultimately lead the team to their final destination. Along the way, however the most wicked of all relatives, Isabel Kabra, once again tracks them down (with her children and henchmen in tow) and chases them throughout a theme park and across a beach. While Amy at one point saves Isabel’s life, Dan and Lester run from her henchmen across quicksand, where Lester actually drowns, sending Dan into shock.
As fun as these books are for adult and youth readers alike, I’m often surprised at the deep, emotional loss the kids endure. Not only are the Cahill children orphans whose parents were murdered by their own wicked relatives, but they also have to watch friends die whilst helping them in a treasure hunt that they themselves don’t even understand. It’s not so weighty that the kids are shocked by it, of course—it’s like Disney-movie deaths—but when the characters take a breather and talk about their loss (or the darkness inside), it can be a moment realization for a young reader. It’s nice as a father at least to be aware of what my kids are ingesting and to keep the lines open for communication.
Besides all the excitement of this book, it actually made some huge strides in plotting as well, at the series level. We finally get answers to questions like: “Who’s the Man in Black?” (spoiler: it’s not Johnny Cash) “Who are the Madrigals, really?” and “Why is Nellie acting so weird?”
If Book 8 was the hook that drew us back to the series after getting bored with it a few months prior, Book 9 is the yank that’s set the hook. We’re ready for Books 10 and 11 and to find out whether we’re ready to invest ourselves in some of the follow-up series to this initial trophy collection.
©2024 E.T.
Read More from The 39 Clues Series:
1. The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (2008)
2. One False Note by Gordon Korman (2008)
3. The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis (2009)
4. Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson (2009)
5. The Black Circle by Patrick Carmen (2009)
6. In Too Deep by Jude Watson (2009)
7. The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis (2010)
8. The Emperor’s Code by Gordan Korman (2010)
9. Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park (2010)
10. Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2010)
11. Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordan Korman, and Jude Watson (2011)