Kids Get 'Clued' In

MOVE OVER NANCY DREW! Today's young super sleuths are about to be drawn into an even more intriguing mystery series, one that combines chapter books, online gaming and card collecting into an expansive, two-year treasure hunt with real-life rewards.

Scholastic's trailblazing new multi-platform venture, The 39 Clues—which kicked off last month with the publication of its first book and the launch of a dedicated Web site, www.the39clues.com, simultaneously in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada—will have kids ages 8 to 12 “traveling” all around the world and back through history in an attempt to solve the 500-year-old secret of the powerful Cahill family.

As kids will read in the first title in the series, Rick Riordan's The Maze of Bones, the last matriarch of the Cahill family changed her will just before her death, leaving her grandchildren Amy and Dan Cahill with a choice: would they rather receive $1 million, or the first of 39 clues that will reveal the source of the family's power, and explain what really happened to their parents?

According to David Levithan, executive editorial director of fiction and multimedia publishing for Scholastic Press, Riordan—author of the bestselling Percy Jackson series—was the top choice for the job of transforming Scholastic's idea of a powerful family and a treasure hunt (which came out of an editorial brainstorming group) into a rich, fully fleshed-out story.

“While we created a framework, Rick built and decorated the house,” Levithan says. “He gave the story its characters, its voice and all of its twists and turns. His background as a teacher was a guiding light—he had firsthand knowledge of what parts of history most interested kids, and we shaped the series accordingly. He could do whatever he wanted. That was the fun of it, setting a fantastic author loose to play with 500 or so years' worth of history.”

He tells Playthings, “Rick's book is everything we wanted and more, because the books are the heart and soul of the whole project. Even if kids don't use the cards or go online, we wanted this to be a wonderful, exciting, involving book series. And that's what Rick and the other authors have delivered. All of the creativity that imbues the cards and site come out of that.”

Every three months a new hardcover book will debut from a different prominent author of kids' fiction. “We wanted authors we knew would both continue Rick's master plan but also add their own voices and strengths to the mix,” Levithan says.

“This was always conceived to be a 'dream team' and I feel that's what we got,” he adds. “The second book is by Gordon Korman, who's one of the masters of middle-grade fiction and one of the bestselling authors in our school fairs and clubs. The third book is by Peter Lerangis, who's written such series as Watchers and Spy X. And the fourth book is by Jude Watson, a #1 New York Times bestselling author who we knew would bring a female point of view to the mix. The fifth book is also by a New York Times bestseller.”

By 2010, Scholastic will have published 10 hardcover books, audio book versions that feature bonus content and 350 collectible cards. At the same time, the company will be continually adding content to its online game, in which even more information about the Cahill family will be revealed. Each book will come with six collectible cards; cards will also be sold in packs of 16. Online, kids can register cards, manage their card collections, track clues and earn points for the more than $100,000 in prizes that Scholastic will distribute over the next two years. And once a participant finds all 39 clues, they are entered into a pool of eligible candidates for the chance to win a grand prize of $10,000.

“The 39 Clues takes a 21st Century approach to publishing,” according to Leslye Schaefer, senior vice president of marketing and consumer products for Scholastic Media, which will oversee all tie-in products for the series. She notes, “Our goal with this property is to ensure that all components of this unique story complement one another and to provide kids with a rich and immersive experience.”

Eventually, Scholastic hopes to debut a feature film franchise, Schaefer says, noting, “In June we announced that DreamWorks Studios has acquired the movie rights from Scholastic Media to the series, and the reaction has been incredibly positive. At this point, Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Media, will produce and Steven Spielberg is eying to direct. We also recently signed on screenwriter Jeff Nathanson to pen the first script.”

Scholastic also hopes to significantly extend the series into the licensing realm. “We introduced the property to the licensing world at Licensing Show in June, and are continuing to look to build upon real world merchandising and promotional extensions,” Schaefer says. “Because this property is fully interactive, it will lend itself very well to consumer products—particularly those that are technology-based, which we think will resonate with the tween demographic. This is a great opportunity for prospective partners because it allows them to create product that will reinforce and become an integral part of a story that will build an intimacy with its audience.”

In the meantime, what's next for Scholastic? Says Levithan, “Our next big venture is Skeleton Creek, (January 2009) written by Pat Carman and created by his PC Studios, which combines written storytelling with Web videos to create an exciting, haunting mystery for readers 10 and up. It's a really amazing achievement, and (like The 39 Clues) it takes publishing in a new, kid-friendly direction. I'm really excited about that.”