Jim Marlowe barely remembers leaving Earth with his family many years ago. He considers himself a Martian Colonist and loves his life on Mars. He is not looking forward to going to school on Syrtis Minor, but he knows that he is of the age where he has to go. The only thing that he insists on is that his pet/friend, Willis, a “bouncer” or Martian animal that is round, furry and stick-out appendages when he wants to see or move around, come with him. His parents are forced to admit that there is nothing in the school rules that say he cannot take Willis, so Jim wins out.
Mary has never known a life lived without a fear. Her small village is protected by some fragile-looking metal walls that keep the Unconsecrated outside. The Unconsecrated are the living dead who wear the faces of loved ones. A single, small bite will turn any living human into one of these terrifying creatures who live only to feast upon the flesh of the living. Her father was infected and her mother could not resist going to him, even though his personality was all gone. With both of her parents gone and no man asking for her to marry him, Mary is sent to live with the Sisterhood, who guard the secrets of the past. Mary wants more than anything [...]
Teddy Fitzroy has a murder on his hands – and no one is taking him seriously! Someone murdered Henry the Hippo, beloved mascot of FunJungle, America’s newest, most popular animal theme park, but all of the adults seem to want to cover up the facts rather than discover the truth! Sure Henry was hated by all who knew and worked with him, but that doesn’t mean that he deserved to die. Teddy is convinced that, if he follows up on the clues he discovered by eavesdropping at the autopsy, he will be able to discover who the criminal is. Was it Large Marge, a rather dim-witted security guard who seems to have it out for Teddy? Or was it the [...]
Birdie Bright has just been transplanted from her beloved California to cold New York City. Her mother got a huge promotion and so Birdie and her dad moved to NY so that she could take the job. Birdie feels like her mother just doesn’t understand her and she really misses all of the green plants that she had in California. Her dad understands that Birdie is having a difficult time adjusting to her new home so he sends Birdie to visit Granny Mo, her mother’s mother. Birdie has never met Granny Mo before as Birdie’s straitlaced mom doesn’t really have anything in common with her free-spirited, kooky, gardener mother. But Birdie finds herself hitting it off with Granny Mo right away! [...]
Jason is unexpectedly sent to Florida to help his father clean up his grandmother’s house. The temperature is sweltering, Jason is always damp in places he would prefer not to think about, the house is packed with all kinds of junk and his dad is losing it. See, Jason never really knew his grandmother and it seems like his dad didn’t either. It turns out that Jason’s dad doesn’t even know who his father is! His grandmother was never married and spent most of her life as an invalid in wheelchairs. Jason is hoping that the funeral will be over quickly and he will back on his way home to Boston, but his dad seems to be falling apart. [...]
Cirrus Flux is one of the orphans being raised in the Foundling Hospital on the outskirts of London. He is one of the oldest boys left there as all of his other friends are slowly apprenticed to wigmakers, printers, and scientists, but Cirrus remains at the orphanage. Cirrus doesn’t mind until his best friend, Bottle Cap, is apprenticed and Cirrus is left alone with the younger boys. Pandora, another orphan, spends her days in a monotonous round of dusting, scrubbing floors and doing laundry until she is caught eavesdropping in the Governor’s office. Then she finds herself apprenticed to Madame Orrery, a cold, distant woman with a touch of evil about her. The longer Pandora remains in Madame’s employ, the [...]
Gerald Wilkins is a pretty geeky, awkward 13-year-old. He spends most of his time daydreaming about knights, dragons and rescuing fair damsels in distress. So he is ill prepared for his sudden inheritance of twenty billion pounds (about $30 billion US). Gerald never even met his Great-Aunt Geraldine! He is baffled as to why a woman he never met would leave all of her money, her houses, her Caribbean island, her yachts, private jet and more. And why leave everything to a little kid? Gerald has to figure out what is going on – and fast! Because the same person who murdered his great-aunt is now after him!
Gerald knows that his great aunt’s murder is somehow tied to [...]
After the devastating revelations contained in Book #5, The Black Circle, Amy & Dan are a little shaken. Now that they have a few clues to who killed their parents, they have a hard time focusing their entire attention on the race to find the clues. Amy especially is struggling to make sense of what her fractured memories show her. From what she can remember, she now realizes that her parents’ were hot on the trail of the 39 clues and were close to a major discovery. Amy can also remember that Ian & Natalie’s mother, Isabel Kabra was there, along with Alistair Oh and Irina Spasky. Did one of them set their house on fire? And did Amy accidentally reveal a critical clue to [...]
Amy & Dan Cahill discovered the next ingredient in Egypt, but did not find a clue to lead them to the next location. Instead, they were presented with a mysterious message instructing them to travel to Russia – but only if they want to find out what really happened to their parents. This is the first time that Amy & Dan realize that their parents did not die in a tragic house fire, but were, in fact, murdered. They feel that they have no choice but to fly to Russia, leaving their au pair behind, and using the fake passports and disguises provided by their mysterious ally, NRR. But the truth will not be uncovered by something so simple as one location with a single [...]
Amy & Dan Cahill escaped the death trap in Korea and are trying to move past the brutal betrayals of their cousins and uncle. All they have to guide them to the next clue is a drawing of a pyramid and the word Sakhet. So they set off for Egypt, hoping that they will discover more clues to keep them in the race to find the greatest treasure in the world. But before they can start searching, they realize that Irina Spasky, former KGB agent with poison-tipped fingernails, is hot on their trail! They manage to evade her, but then they stumble across an Ekaterina stronghold in a luxury Egyptian hotel. Seems that they are not the only ones who suspect that Alistair Oh is [...]
Amy & Dan Cahill last clue leads them to Japan, but they are outwitted before they can even begin! Their tricky cousins, the Kabras, manage to steal their tickets – and Nellie, their au pair – and leave them high and dry at the airport. When their Uncle Alistair Oh appears out of nowhere and offers to take them to the next clue on his private jet (paid for with his microwave burrito fortune) if they will tell him where to go, they are immediately suspicious. Amy & Dan know that they cannot trust Alistair, as he has double crossed them more than once before, but they feel that they have no choice. In order to save Nellie and their beloved cat, Saladin, they tell [...]
Amy & Dan Cahill are hot on the trail of their 2nd clue – and all trails lead to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Seems that the famous composer was a Cahill and descended from the artistic Janus branch. The kids and their au pair, Nellie, quickly find themselves leaving Paris, France and heading on their way to Vienna, Austria to solve the puzzle. It doesn’t take them long, however, to realize that the key to the puzzle actually lies with Mozart’s sister, Nannerl. Nannerl was an amazing musician in her own right, but never got the recognition she deserved because she was a woman. Her journal will lead Amy & Dan to Salzburg and then on to Venice, Italy to try and capture the clue before [...]
