Wednesday, August 20, 2008


THIS YEAR’S GROUNDBREAKING CHILDREN’S BOOK SERIES – THE 39 CLUES – LAUNCHES GLOBALLY ON 9 SEPTEMBER 2008


Interactive format combines reading, gaming, and card collecting with first book by best-selling author Rick Riordan

Scholastic begins the hunt for The 39 Clues TM, an interactive multi-media adventure series, on September 9, 2008. The first book, The Maze of Bones, written by multi-award winning and Number 1 New York Times bestselling author Rick Riordan, is scheduled for simultaneous worldwide publication in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The official 39 Clues online game will also launch on September 9, 2008, on http://www.the39clues.com/. Combining reading with online gaming and card collecting, this much-anticipated interactive series for children ages 8-12 spans will include 10 adrenaline-charged books, collectable cards, and a dynamic online game where readers uncover information beyond what is revealed in the books and cards and compete for amazing prizes against children around the globe.

There will be hundreds of collectible game cards created for The 39 Clues – each marked with a unique code. Six cards are included with each book, and randomly assorted card packs of sixteen will be available for purchase separately. Readers can register their cards online and manage their card collections through The 39 Clues website, http://www.the39clues.com/ and win prizes. Worldwide, Scholastic will be giving away more than US$100,000 in prizes in a variety of ways throughout the duration of the series.
All rights for The 39 Clues are controlled by Scholastic.
Scholastic Media, the company’s entertainment, licensing and consumer products division, will simultaneously release the audiobook and will be extending the print and internet components by developing the property across other media and consumer products. Dreamworks Studios has acquired the screen rights to The 39 Clues – and Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media will produce and Steven Spielberg is eyeing to direct.

Elaine McQuade, Managing Director, Scholastic Children’s Books added: “It is particularly pleasing to be able to publish such a ground-breaking new series during the UK’s 2008 National Year of Reading. There is the whole The 39 Clues experience for committed readers to enjoy, while the collectible cards and the continuously unfolding online game may well bring children who are not so keen on reading back to books.”

Rick Riordan, who authored The Maze of Bones and also outlined the programme’s 10-book story arc, will be followed by a team of best-selling and acclaimed authors. The second book, One False Note, by Gordon Korman will be published on December 2, 2008. The third book by Peter Lerangis and the fourth book by Jude Watson will follow in 2009. Additional authors and publication dates for subsequent titles will be announced at a later date.

The 39 Clues centres around the Cahills – the most powerful family the world has ever known. But the source of the family’s power has been lost. Grace Cahill, the last matriarch of the Cahills, changed her will minutes before she died, leaving her descendants an impossible decision: receive a million dollars or a clue. The first Cahill to assemble all 39 clues hidden around the world will discover what makes the family so powerful – a reward beyond measure. It’s Cahill versus Cahill in a race to finish, with readers hot on the heels of the main characters, fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her eleven-year-old brother, Dan. Let the hunt begin!

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