39 Clues by Rick Riordan

I read what is sure to be the breakout book of the season. If you haven't heard about it, 39 Clues is going to be a 10-book series. (Why have just one book anymore?!) Each book will be authored by a popular intermediate/young adult author. The first is by Rick Riordan, and the second, which comes out Dec. 2nd is by Gordon Korman. Each book comes with a pack of clue cards and extra packs of cards can be purchased separately. You can go online and register yourself and your cards and compete to win prizes by solving mysteries.

The story itself is worth the read. My description of it is: The Westing Game meets National Treasure meets Series of Unfortunate Events. (With maybe a little Pokemon thrown in to cover the card thing!) I really enjoyed the read and look forward to the next one, though we'll see where I'm at by number 10. The third book in the series comes out in March and is by Peter Lerangis.

Of course, I'm a sucker for mysteries and puzzles to solve, so the website is an added bonus. Check it all out at http://www.the39clues.com

Interesting Thoughts

I read a very interesting article on one of the School Library Journal blogs the other day. It is a great discussion of the Newberry Award and its staying power.

Looking at the list for our state children's choice awards, I'm thinking the same thing for our award. There are many authors on the list who have been on the list within the last two or three years. How do you balance exposing readers to something new with the "popular" items? Hmmm...tough dilemma.