Into the Gauntlet (The 39 Clues, Book 10)

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Jul 2011 · Sold by Scholastic Inc.

About this ebook

The explosive finale to the #1 bestselling series!

Fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, have had enough. Not only do they have to find the 39 Clues first, they're expected to reunite their backstabbing family - the same people who killed their parents. But Amy and Dan haven't survived explosions and assassination attempts for nothing. They have a plan to finish the Clue hutn on their own terms. Too bad there's a final, fatal secret the Madrigals haven't told them. A secret that could cost Amy and Dan - and the world - everything . . .

Ratings and reviews

My first thought upon hearing of this popular children’s book series was of the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, ‘The 39 Steps’. However, aside from the similarity in titles and both falling into a thriller/adventure genre, the two stories carry nothing in common. ‘The 39 Clues’ revolve around two siblings: 11-year-old Dan Cahill and his 14-year-old sister Amy. Both their parents were killed; and their grandmother died with the offer of either giving them one million dollars each or a single clue. They choose the clue, and so began the clue hunt for the ’39 Clues’ around which the stories are built. As this is a series, and book ten is the final installment in the series, the likelihood of becoming lost with the who’s who and what’s what of the story – not having read the previous nine books – is highly probable. I have entertained several adult series books where the beginning cannot be discerned from the ending and the middle is everywhere it is not. Fortunately, Margaret Haddix handles this potentiality with great skill, retelling the story through the introspection of the characters as they are gradually introduced into the plot of this tenth book. Amy and Dan are part of a family lineage which stretches back centuries to one Gideon Cahill. He created a serum, which is the impetus to the clue hunt. Each of the 39 clues are ingredients in the serum; and the serum is, apparently, something to enhance a person’s natural talents to their peak. This is one point I found myself a bit unclear on, as each new ‘clue’ found was merely a riddle with directions to the next clue. Their adversaries for this hunt are other members of the extended family, branches from Gideon Cahill’s children who have been at war with one another for centuries. With each of Gideon’s children excelling in different areas (the arts, the sciences, etc.), and these talents following through in succeeding generations, such a reality inclined towards world domination in the wrong hands. In the previous nine books, this idea of the other four branches being the ‘wrong hands’ becomes a certainty in the minds of Amy and Dan. While there are moments of familial tenderness between themselves and the other children, the parents show themselves as selfish to borderline evil. The children, while there is some natural bonding with Amy and Dan, they remain obedient to their mothers and fathers, seeking the serum for themselves, while Amy and Dan race to keep it out of their hands. This dynamic is remarkable to observe. Faithfulness to one’s family is to be commended, but blind loyalty to a cause known to be unjust is something else. Though this book is written for an audience of younger kids in mind, as it does not engage the adult mind with stronger characterizations and more intricate plots, it is nevertheless extremely entertaining for anyone who enjoys a good story. I could not help but think of classic Walt Disney films where the good guys always triumph and families are a foundational source of strength. Parents will watch these films with their children and with their children’s children, knowing good and evil carry definitive bounds and adventure thrills with new mysteries to uncover. Characters engage in some introspective study of themselves, considering their motives and actions for what happened in the past, as well as what is potentially to come. There is even the introduction of history into the tale, educating, from a child’s perspective, on people like William Shakespeare. Haddix incorporates him into the bloodline of the Cahills – such being the manner children learn best. Tell them a story and see their imagination grow with the truth that exists and the hope of what is yet to come.

The 39 Clues: Into the Gauntlet, is an action filled book with the lessons of working together and not giving up. It also gives you a little insight in history. I think this book should be read by kids of all ages.

I love how Amy and Dan find the clue:Serum Formula. I hate that I do not get books with cards:They are Library Edition.

About the author

Margaret Peterson Haddix worked as a newspaper copy editor, a newspaper reporter, a community college instructor and a freelance writer. Haddix has received the International Reading Association Children's Book Award, the ALA Best Book for Young Adults Award, the Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, The National Kids Award, citations, as well as state readers' choice lists in over twenty-eight states. Haddix lives in Columbus, Ohio.