Book Review: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park

Storm Warning
by Linda Sue Park
The 39 Clues

Scholastic
ISBN-10: 0-545-06049-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-06049-3
Publication Date: May, 2010
List Price: $12.99

Review: The ultimate treasure hunt continues in Storm Warning, the ninth book in The 39 Clues series. Each book in the series is written by a different author, and the author of Storm Warning is Linda Sue Park. Amy and Dan are two teens in search of the 39 Clues – a quest granted to them in their grandmother’s will. The Cahill family is the most powerful family in the world, and each family branch is racing to uncover the clues to find out the secret to becoming the most powerful people on the planet. In that Amy and Dan’s parents have passed away, their eccentric au pair, Nellie joins them on their quest. Can Amy and Dan uncover another clue before the extended family members stop them - - - permanently?

Storm Warning begins with Amy and Dan leaving the Beijing airport and heading to the Bahamas and then to Jamaica with Nellie and their cat, Saladin snuggled in Dan’s arms. Their journey is paved with deception, tribulation, and death. The clues center around pirates and strong women in pirate history. But, although they uncover the clues, they must solve an ultimate riddle to make sense of their findings. All along the way, they are followed by “the man in black” who has already tried to kill them once, and the Kabras who see death as no obstacle to uncovering the clues. After meeting a long-lost friend of their grandmother and putting her son in fatal danger, Amy and Dan have to begin to question their loyalties. Nellie is behaving strangely, and they’re finding that the Cahill family is really larger than they’d known. Join Amy and Dan as they fight for their lives in the ninth installment in The 39 Clues mystery.

Scholastic has landed on a gem with The 39 Clues series. Not only are the books vastly entertaining and suspenseful, but the series is also accompanied by game cards and an on-line game where readers can join in the race to uncover the 39 Clues! Linda Sue Park has done an exceptional job of continuing the series. She provides enough background so that new readers can get intrigued, but not too much so that veteran 39 Clues readers will be bored. Certainly new readers to The 39 Clues series should start at book 1 – The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. The characters in the series are solid and entertaining. Amy and Dan struggle with typical “brother/sister” issues while battling for their lives. It’s wonderful to see how squabbling siblings would die for one another if needed. Also, Nellie is a very different au pair. She’s sly, resourceful, loving, and deceptive. Her character keeps readers on their toes! Finally, the villains are characters you love to hate, but yet you see how Amy and Dan never falter in the understanding of right from wrong. The storyline is suspenseful, and clues are embedded in the series through a cryptogram of sorts. Readers of all ages will find enjoyment in The 39 Clues series, and Storm Warning is no exception.

Review written by Margo Nauert (6th grade teacher).

We would like to thank Scholastic for providing a copy of Storm Warning for this review.

Have you read Storm Warning? How would you rate it?