Into The Gauntlet (The 39 Clues, Book 10) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Reviewed by Bridget

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Series:  The 39 Clues (Book Ten)

New York Times Best Selling Series

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  The violence is non-graphic, yet, action packed.   There is a lot of physical contact as the cousins struggle for the final clues.  Isabel slaps Ian’s face.  Hamilton and Dan fall off the side of a cliff.  Eisenhower, an adult, punches Dan, a pubescent, in the face.  The Holt’s realize the traumatic scars and burns the  Starling Triplets suffered at their hands in Pennsylvania.  Jonah’s legs are both broken.  Natalie also falls off a cliff.

Adult Themes:  Ian and Natalie discover their mother, Isabel’s, files.  The files contain details of the murders she has had carried out: Lester, Irina Spasky, Dan and Amy’s parents.

Summary

Amy and Dan Cahill are members of an extremely large and powerful family.  At their grandmother’s funeral they and their cousins are presented with a choice to either take one million dollars right now and walk away, or begin a treasure hunt for 39 clues around the world that could lead to the world’s greatest treasure of wealth and power.  Into the Gauntlet is the final installment in a ten book series that has followed Amy and Dan and their greedy cousins around the world searching for the clues to the treasure.  This adventure takes place in the U.K.  Nellie, Amy and Dan stay just one step ahead of their vicious cousins.  Dan and Amy discover the Cahill Ancestral Home – The Madrigal Stronghold, just off the coast of Ireland.  Their quest is to unify all five branches of the family, through the 39 clues, so no one family has all the power.  Readers can also collect game cards and participate in the treasure hunt online at www.the39clues.com .Book Ten was released on August 31st, 2010.

Into the Gauntlet is a fast paced adventure for kids.  The violence is non-graphic.  The 39 Clues Series definitely has “boy appeal”.   I also enjoyed the inclusion of  the history of Shakespeare.

© 2010 The Literate Mother