A fad to inspire a reader

I can't believe that I heard about a set of books, ordered the entire set and then enjoyed them as much as I did.   This was all on faith.  At a party Sugar, who has never enjoyed reading, watched her friends talk non stop about a series of books.  I could not believe all the talk about these books so I asked the mom.  After our conversation I came home and ordered all the books.  At the time only 9 were out with one more prepaid for. 

When I went back to pick up Sugar the next morning I didn't tell her about the books. I was hoping she was interested, but I really wanted them to be her thing.  My hope was that she would be more interested if it was something she shared with her friends and not something that I pushed.  Half way home she looked at me and said, "Hey mom, is there any way you might consider getting me a few of those books that they were talking about? They sound fun!" When the set showed up a week later we were both wanted to read them.

I let her go first.  Well as long as I could hold out.  I was so pleasantly surprised at the stories.  They twist mystery, family intrigue, fortune hunting, in with a little science, history and geography.  The excitement doesn't stop with the books.  The stories spill over into the 39 Clues Website   .  This doesn't even begin to describe the fun in collected the cards.  These cards tie the story, the books and the website together.  The thrill in collecting all the clues is just an added bonus to the stories. 

I have recently learned that the success of these books was better than originally planned.  They have plotted more books.  A slight change at the end of the series allows for a new plot line in the books.  I just recently got The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets.  It was kind of a recap of all the secrets that you learned in the first 10 books.  It wasn't really a story but it did an entertaining job of taking the story to the next level.  I can't wait to get book 11 now and see where the story goes.

 I write about these to offer a recommendation.  If you know a young one between 9 and 12 try giving these books as a present.  Try starting a love of reading.  This series does a wonderful job of combining mediums to draw in all kids of readers.  I also recommend you reading them to.  That way you will have an idea of what your child is so excited about and you will not mind as much going to the movie when it hits the big screen.   (That is still a way off so you have plenty of time to catch up and read all the books, collect all the clues and master all the games on the web.)
Happy ready and clue hunting!