The Maze of Bones
Encyclopedia
The Maze of Bones was published by Scholastic on September 9, 2008. The story arc of the series has been established by Riordan, but a collaboration
of six other authors will continue to write the story through the next nine books.
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, and Napoleon Bonaparte were all in one of the four family branches -- the power-hungry Lucians, the strong and sporty Tomas, the inventive Ekaterinas, and the creative Janus. Dan and Amy are also warned to "beware the Madrigals," but what the Madrigals are is not revealed in this novel. While most of the characters in the book know which branch they belong to, the main characters do not.
(who are their grandmother Grace's favorite grandchildren), attend Grace's funeral after her death. A choice is given to a select number of heirs: to find the 39 Clues, which will make the winner the "most powerful and influential person(s) on the planet", or to take a million dollars and walk away. Amy and Dan decide to accept the challenge. Their guardian, Aunt Beatrice, disowns them, and they receive the first Clue.
The first clue puzzles all of the competitors, and prompts Amy and Dan to check in the library for a man named Richard S-. They discover that Richard Saunders, the name they were looking for, is actually Benjamin Franklin
—who was a Cahill
. Amy and Dan, along with their friendly uncle, Alistair Oh, find an almanac
by Franklin, which their relatives, like Alistair's father, Gordon Oh, and Dan and Amy's mother, Hope Cahill, have written in. Soon they realize there is a fire in the mansion, which ultimately burns it down. Alistair escapes with Poor Richard's Almanack and Dan and Amy are left with nothing but their grandmother's cat, Saladin, whom Dan rescued in their escape, and their grandmother's jewelry box.
They realize in order to travel to different places they will need adult supervision, so they enlist their au pair
, Nellie Gomez, to accompany them on their journey. The Cahills find a lead in Philadelphia, prompting them to travel to Paris
, France
, where they learn more about Ben Franklin and their family.
After turning down a proposal from fellow competitor Jonah Wizard, whom they met after arriving in Paris, they follow Irina Spasky, who, due to a theft chain, now has the almanac. Irina lured them into a trap on an island, but they were later saved unpredictably by the Holts, a family who is also after the Clues. After their escape, Amy and Dan told Nellie all about the 39 Clues, and Nellie decides to help them.
With their information, the Cahills go to the Paris Catacombs. They find some bones which have numbers on them: a magic box number game, planted there by Franklin to give the coordinates to the next Clue. This leads them to a church where they find a room with a mural of the four original Cahills, after who the four Cahill branches are named.
Inside a vase is a small vial, with scrambled words on it. Dan solves the anagram
, and they resolve to insert the vial into a lightning rod—one of Franklin's inventions—to charge it. Amy trades the vial with the enemy Kabras for an antidote for the supposedly poisoned Dan. Even though the Kabras stole the vial, Dan still has the important paper containing what they need, and solves the puzzle on the first clue they were given: iron solute. Amy's Internet searches for Franklin also have led them to the probable location of the second Clue: Vienna
, Austria
, the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
.
. The members of each teams in the family are obviously talented or have some other edge and yet Amy and Dan are viewed as the main threats. Over the course of the book Amy and Dan discover their own unique talents. The premise of the series is that the person to find the solution to the clues will come into an inordinate amount of power.
at number one on September 28, 2008 and stayed on the list for children's chapter books for 24 weeks. Publishers Weekly
said it "mixes just the right proportions of suspense, perils, and puzzles" and that it was a "rollicking good read", while noting that "the story does not end so much as drop off a cliff." School Library Journal
said that "the book dazzles" and "stands solidly on its own feet and will satisfy while whetting appetites for more." Mary Quattlebaum, writing for the Washington Post, said that "though the villainous relatives are rather flat, the historical tidbits and fast-moving plot will engage readers". Austin Grossman
, writing for The New York Times
, gave a generally mixed review, saying the premise for the series was "dramatic and instantly engaging", although he commented that Amy and Dan were "agreeably flawed characters but have an undeniably focus-grouped, manufactured quality — as does, let’s face it, the whole book". He also found the supporting characters to be made up of stereotypes and the writing "carefully bland, as if it didn’t trust its readers enough".
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
of six other authors will continue to write the story through the next nine books.
Plot introduction
Many of the well-known names in history are said to be part of the real-life Cahill family, making it "the most powerful family in the world." They currently live in Boston, Massachusetts in a glorious mansion called The Cahill Ranch. Names such as Marie CurieMarie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, and Napoleon Bonaparte were all in one of the four family branches -- the power-hungry Lucians, the strong and sporty Tomas, the inventive Ekaterinas, and the creative Janus. Dan and Amy are also warned to "beware the Madrigals," but what the Madrigals are is not revealed in this novel. While most of the characters in the book know which branch they belong to, the main characters do not.
Plot summary
Amy and Dan Cahill, the protagonists of the novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
(who are their grandmother Grace's favorite grandchildren), attend Grace's funeral after her death. A choice is given to a select number of heirs: to find the 39 Clues, which will make the winner the "most powerful and influential person(s) on the planet", or to take a million dollars and walk away. Amy and Dan decide to accept the challenge. Their guardian, Aunt Beatrice, disowns them, and they receive the first Clue.
The first clue puzzles all of the competitors, and prompts Amy and Dan to check in the library for a man named Richard S-. They discover that Richard Saunders, the name they were looking for, is actually Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
—who was a Cahill
Cahill
Cahill is a name of Irish origin. In Irish, It is the anglicized version of the Gaelic "Ó Cathail" meaning "descendant of Cathal." "Cathal" consists of two parts: "cath" means battle; the second could be "val" , so that the name as a whole meant "battle ruler" or "strong in battle", or it could...
. Amy and Dan, along with their friendly uncle, Alistair Oh, find an almanac
Almanac
An almanac is an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, and tide tables, containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar etc...
by Franklin, which their relatives, like Alistair's father, Gordon Oh, and Dan and Amy's mother, Hope Cahill, have written in. Soon they realize there is a fire in the mansion, which ultimately burns it down. Alistair escapes with Poor Richard's Almanack and Dan and Amy are left with nothing but their grandmother's cat, Saladin, whom Dan rescued in their escape, and their grandmother's jewelry box.
They realize in order to travel to different places they will need adult supervision, so they enlist their au pair
Au pair
An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use...
, Nellie Gomez, to accompany them on their journey. The Cahills find a lead in Philadelphia, prompting them to travel to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where they learn more about Ben Franklin and their family.
After turning down a proposal from fellow competitor Jonah Wizard, whom they met after arriving in Paris, they follow Irina Spasky, who, due to a theft chain, now has the almanac. Irina lured them into a trap on an island, but they were later saved unpredictably by the Holts, a family who is also after the Clues. After their escape, Amy and Dan told Nellie all about the 39 Clues, and Nellie decides to help them.
With their information, the Cahills go to the Paris Catacombs. They find some bones which have numbers on them: a magic box number game, planted there by Franklin to give the coordinates to the next Clue. This leads them to a church where they find a room with a mural of the four original Cahills, after who the four Cahill branches are named.
Inside a vase is a small vial, with scrambled words on it. Dan solves the anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
, and they resolve to insert the vial into a lightning rod—one of Franklin's inventions—to charge it. Amy trades the vial with the enemy Kabras for an antidote for the supposedly poisoned Dan. Even though the Kabras stole the vial, Dan still has the important paper containing what they need, and solves the puzzle on the first clue they were given: iron solute. Amy's Internet searches for Franklin also have led them to the probable location of the second Clue: Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
.
Major characters
- Amy (age 14) and Dan Cahill (age 11) are the protagonists of the series. They are the grandchildren of Grace Cahill. They became orphans when their parents died in a fire seven years earlier. Since that time, they have been in the care of their aunt Beatrice, before traveling to find the 39 Clues. They both have jade-green eyes, but Amy has reddish-brown hair, while Dan has a dark blonde color. Dan and Amy's cards are #2 and #18, respectively, but both also appear in card #200, and plenty of retailer cards.
- Grace Cahill is the Cahill's grandmother. She has traveled all over the world, and settled in Attleboro, MassachusettsAttleboro, MassachusettsAttleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States and is immediately north of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers, Attleboro had a population of 42,068 at the 2000 census, and a population of 43,645 as of...
. The Maze of Bones starts with a scene of her dying, and in the last minute, changing her will. Her cards are #59, #133, and #197 (all as a founder). - Alistair Oh is an aged, Korean inventor (most proud of his invention: microwavable burritos). He is from the Ekaterina branch. He is also Amy and Dan's "uncle", with his father being a half-brother with Grace's father. His cards are #34 and #96.
- Ian (age 14) and Natalie Kabra (age 11) are both from LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK. Ian and Natalie both have cinnamon-complexion skinSkin-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
, amber eyes, and jet-black hair. They are both Lucians, with their parents, Isabel and Vikram, being the branch leaders. Ian and Natalie's cards are #178 and #112, respectively. - Irina Spasky is a former Russian KGB spy. Irina is known for her poison fingernails and for her sneakiness. She is also part of the Lucian branch. Her card is #74 (as an agent) and #107 (as a founder).
- Jonah Wizard is a superstar singer/actor. He is never seen without his dad, Broderick Wizard. He had starred in the reality show "Who Wants to be a Gangsta?".
- Eisenhower, Mary-Todd, Hamilton, Madison, and Reagan Holt are the strongest team in the quest. Eisenhower and Mary-Todd are the parents of Hamilton , Madison, and Reagan. Arnold, the family pit bull, is also considered as member of the family. Hamilton is fourteen years old while identical twins Madison and Reagan are both eleven. The whole family wears matching purple jogsuits, and they always travel with Arnold. Hamilton, Madison, and Reagan are considered as their school's bullies. They are all in Tomas. Their respective cards range from #145 (Eisenhower), #90 (Hamilton), #187 (Madison), and #123 (Reagan).
- The Starling triplets consist of Ned, Ted, and Sinead Starling. They have freckled faces and they always wear identical preppy clothes. They were put out of the hunt on the second day, due to an explosion caused by the Holts in a Philadelphia museum. In an interview with Patrick Carman it was revealed that they are part of the Ekaterina branch.
- Nellie Gomez is the Cahill's au pairAu pairAn au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use...
. Amy and Dan enlists her to be their guardian on the 39 Clues, unknowingly at first, but she later decides to help the children. She is of Mexican and French decent. She does not have any cards yet. - William McIntyre is Grace Cahill's mysterious lawyer, advisor, and "closest confidant for half of her life". He is one of the Man In Black's most trusted ally. He told Amy and Dan to Trust No One but they didn't listen to him. But what Amy and Dan don't know, is that that counts for William McIntyre himself.
Major themes
The major themes of the novel are talent and power. The historical members of the Cahill family are all talented. Each branch has specific talents in a certain area; for example the Ekaterina branch is talented in the area of technologyTechnology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. The members of each teams in the family are obviously talented or have some other edge and yet Amy and Dan are viewed as the main threats. Over the course of the book Amy and Dan discover their own unique talents. The premise of the series is that the person to find the solution to the clues will come into an inordinate amount of power.
Reception
The Maze of Bones met with a generally positive reviews and spawned optimism for the rest of the series. It entered the Children's Books New York Times Best Seller listNew York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
at number one on September 28, 2008 and stayed on the list for children's chapter books for 24 weeks. Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
said it "mixes just the right proportions of suspense, perils, and puzzles" and that it was a "rollicking good read", while noting that "the story does not end so much as drop off a cliff." School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
said that "the book dazzles" and "stands solidly on its own feet and will satisfy while whetting appetites for more." Mary Quattlebaum, writing for the Washington Post, said that "though the villainous relatives are rather flat, the historical tidbits and fast-moving plot will engage readers". Austin Grossman
Austin Grossman
Austin Grossman [b. ] is a writer and game designer who has contributed to the New York Times and a number of video games.He is the author of the novel Soon I Will Be Invincible, which was published by Pantheon Books in 2007....
, writing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, gave a generally mixed review, saying the premise for the series was "dramatic and instantly engaging", although he commented that Amy and Dan were "agreeably flawed characters but have an undeniably focus-grouped, manufactured quality — as does, let’s face it, the whole book". He also found the supporting characters to be made up of stereotypes and the writing "carefully bland, as if it didn’t trust its readers enough".