The 39 Clues series wraps up pretty soon. The last part, book #10 Into the Gauntlet, comes out August 31st. Here’s what Rick has to say about the series and why he got involved in the first place:

• Official Website
• The 39 Clues
• Look Inside Storm Warning
• Storm Warning on CD
• 39 Clues Colorcross Game
• The 39 Clues Family Tree
• Grace Cahill’s Will

The first four 39 Clues Books so far…there will be 10 in all.
	Book 10: Into the Gauntlet(August 31, 2010) by Margaret Peterson Haddix				Book 10: Into the Gauntlet(August 31, 2010) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

You can read or listen to a lot of books without even leaving home if you have a computer or other device like an iPad. Authors & publishers have started making some whole books available online. Here are some to get you started:

Funbrain.com Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series started on the website funbrain.com in 2004. The first three print books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules & The Last Straw are based on the online version. The print versions are improved…more story, more pictures, etc., but you can still read a lot about Greg online.

Watch and Listen to Neil Gaiman Read The Graveyard Book

With your Indianapolis library card you can download free e-books to your computer. Look at a list of the book choices. (Scroll down the left side until you see the section “Browse eBook Fiction” and then choose “Juvenile Fiction.” If a book is available you can add it to your cart & then check it out. You can choose to keep the e-book from 7-21 days. The book will automatically return itself at the end of the loan period.

Funbrain.com Amelia Writes Again

International Children’s Digital Library: The Secret Garden

International Children’s Digital Library: Heidi

International Children’s Digital Library: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Read or Listen to The Exquisite Corpse Adventure

Harper Collins Browse Inside: Try Before You Buy
At Browse Inside you can read the first few chapters of a lot of books. They do have some full books available. Click on the tab “Full Access” to see the books that are available from beginning to end. Right now, for kids, the full access book choices are:

• Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow
• Molly Moon, Micky Minus & the Mind Machine
• Beezus and Ramona

If I come across any new ones I’ll let you know.

Here it is – another piece you’ve been waiting for – the cover of The Lost Hero. The mechanical dragon looks really cool!

You can read Rick Riordan’s comments about the cover and the new book on his blog called Myth & Mystery. He even talks about what kind of roll Percy plays in the new book.

What do you think of the first two chapters?

Rick Riordan said in his blog on June 1st:

“Right now, there are only “locked” sample chapters from The Lost Hero. Bronze coin keychains, like the symbol above, were given out at BEA  (Book Expo America) with the pass code, and for the present, that’s the only way to unlock the chapters. If you weren’t at BEA, or can’t find someone who got the coin, don’t worry! In a few weeks, we’ll open the sample chapters for everyone.”

Well, guess what, you didn’t have to find someone with a keychain, that someone found you! Thanks to Joe who gave us this terrific bit of information in a comment this morning…here is the pass code: “if you go to camphalfblood.com the password is newhero you can read the first two chapters… cant wait”.

NOTE: The two chapters have been moved to http://disney.go.com/disneybooks/heroes-of-olympus/ look on the left side. You don’t need a password anymore either.

I tried it, it works. 47 pages worth! I couldn’t help it, I read the last sentence in the second chapter. I know, I know, bad habit, I shouldn’t have done that…but oh, wait until you read that last sentence! No! Don’t start there like I did! You’ll ruin it!

Thanks again to Joe! What a great way to start the summer.

The book comes out on October 12, 2010. 

Now I’m going to go read the rest…