The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, Book 1)
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Age Level: 9-12 years
SUMMARY
When Grace Cahill dies, her relatives are invited to the reading of her will where they are each given an unusual choice: to walk away with one million dollars or to be given the first in a series of clues that will eventually lead them to a mysterious treasure. Grace's grandchildren, Dan and Amy Cahill, decide to accept the challenge. What begins as an intriguing treasure hunt soon becomes a perilous adventure as Dan and Amy soon realize that some of the other teams will stop at nothing to win.
In this first novel (in a ten-book series written by a variety of authors), Dan and Amy follow the initial clues left by their forefather Benjamin Franklin. The two orphans travel with their college-aged au pair to Paris where a string of clues and adventures finally leads them into the Catacombs where they find the second big clue.
CRITIQUE
I am sure that many children in the targeted age range will enjoy this book, but don't expect this book to be great literature. The characters were not very well-developed nor, in my opinion, were they even very likable. I wearied quickly of the sibling protagonists' acrimonious relationship. The plot was very predictable and the clues were not very sophisticated. It was a fun adventure for the younger reader, but nothing at all deep or thought-provoking. If you are looking for a good mystery for your child to read, I would instead recommend The Westing Game
or even The Mysterious Benedict Society
(see my other blog - link below - for reviews of these books).RATINGS
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude: Mild
Frightening/Suspenseful: Mild
Profanity: Mild
Sex: None
Substance Use: None
Mature Themes: None
Violence: Moderate
SPECIFIC CONTENT
Disrespectful/Bad Attitude:
-Dan says his sister "has a face like a baboon butt."
-Dan tells Jonah, "If your head was any bigger, we could use it as a hot air balloon."
-Amy says to Dan, "Why don't you go fly a kite in a storm and see if you get electrocuted?"
Frightening/Suspenseful:
-Suspenseful scene where Dan and Amy are trapped in the secret, underground library when someone sets fire to the mansion. They manage to escape unharmed.
-Paragraph describing how creepy the Catacombs are with all the human bones stacked like firewood.
-Suspenseful scene where Dan is nearly run over by an express train. Amy pulls him to safety at the last moment.
Profanity:
-Words/phrases used include stupid, dweeb, idiot, weirdo, loser, git, shut up, fool, wimp, dummy, creep, doofus, poop.
Violence
-Madison and Reagan drop Dan on his head.
-Dan wants to "kick Ian in a soft spot" but doesn't.
-Dan tries to trip Ian and Natasha, but they step over his leg.
-Amy boxes Dan on the ear.
-Dan finds a stone dagger. Grace describes how the Aztecs would use it for ritual sacrifice. "They would cut off the parts of their enemies that they believed held the fighting spirit."
-Amy considers strangling Dan, but doesn't follow through.
-Amy is tempted to whack Dan with a book. She doesn't do it.
-Amy wants to hit Nellie with the jewelry box, but doesn't.
-Natalie is carrying a poisoned silver dart gun and points it at Irina's chest.
-A bomb explodes and part of the ceiling collapses. Dan and Amy are upset because they believe the Starlings have been killed in the blast. Later Dan and Amy learn that no one was killed, but there were serious injuries that sent the Starlings to the hospital.
-Dan and Amy hear that Alistair Oh has been attacked. He ends up with a black eye and cracked ribs.
-The Holts are "strangling each other" fighting over the ice cream.
-Eisenhower Holt remembers how he "accidentally Tasered himself in the rear end."
-Holt family fights a group of thugs that were trying to bury Dan and Amy alive.
-Dan throws a concussive grenade that knocks everybody out.
-Amy electrocutes two thugs by charging a metal fence with a battery.
-Nellie "whopped Alistair Oh upside the head with her backpack."
No comments:
Post a Comment