'The 39 Clues' Best Selling Multi-Media Series Awards Ninth Round of Cash Prizes from Scholastic

36 kids worldwide win a combined $18,060 — out of $125,000 awarded over two-year, 10-book hunt

News provided by

Nov 15, 2010, 11:35 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The 39 Clues™ is giving 36 lucky children a reason to celebrate, as Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education, and media company, announces the ninth round of cash prizes in The New York Times bestselling multi-media book series, totaling $18,060. To date, more than one million children from around the globe have registered at www.the39clues.com to digitize cards, play games and earn points, and over the course of the two-year 10-book series, $125,000 in prizes will have been awarded. Kids ages 6-14 (as of December 31, 2008) can enter to join the hunt at anytime for the chance to win prizes at www.the39clues.com. (Prizes vary according to each country's rules.)*

Each of the adrenaline-charged books in the 10-book series offers kids an immersive reading and online experience that involves joining one of four branches of the Cahill family (Lucian, Ekaterina, Janus, or Tomas) – the most powerful family in the world. Once part of the family, they can begin their hunt for the 39 Clues, and have chances to win exciting prizes with each book release through the Book Sweepstakes, Online Mission Sweepstakes and Episode Contests **(see below for descriptions). The participants in the US and Canada who find all 39 Clues by the end of the series and assemble them to discover the Cahill secret and are among the top 39 points earners during Episode #10 have the chance to win the grand prize of $10,000.

The ninth round of 36 winners has been selected from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and India, and winners will receive cash prizes totaling $18,060. In addition, Australia has also selected 39 more winners in the ninth round and will be awarding alternative prizing including a Nintendo Wii and special The 39 Clues prizes. For the full list of winners and prizes, visit www.the39clues.com/winners/episode9. The 39 Clues top ninth round prize winners include:

Book #9 Episode Contest Winners:
1st prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $1,500
Charles B., 13, Huntington, NY, USA – Tomas

2nd prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $850
Justin H., 11, Encinitas, CA, USA – Ekaterina

3rd prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $575
Jonathan S., 12, Mobile, AL, USA – Ekaterina

In addition, three winners were selected in Malaysia, Singapore and India:
1st prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $300
Parth A., 13, India – Ekaterina

2nd prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $200
Damian C., 13, Malaysia – Tomas

3rd prize winner of the Book #9 Episode Contest $100
Fatin H., 9, Malaysia – Lucian

Book #9 Sweepstakes Winners:
1st prize winner of the Book #9 Sweepstakes $1,000
Ethan M., 11, Toronto, ONT, Canada - Janus

2nd prize winners of the Book #9 Sweepstakes $750 each
Jared B., 13, Hurst, TX, USA – Ekaterina
Elisabeth J., 12, Port Orchard, WA, USA – Janus
Jack E., 8, Glenville, NY, USA – Lucian
Zachary M., 12, Peoria, IL, USA – Janus
Cameron J., 8, Pewaukee, WI, USA – Tomas

3rd prize winners of the Book #9 Sweepstakes $475 each
Emily S., 9, Fridley, MN, USA – Ekaterina
Ricky T., 13, Plano, TX, USA – Lucian
Sean O., 9, Loves Park, IL, USA – Janus
Eric O., 12, Waterloo, IA, USA - Ekaterina
Dylan D., 11, Virginia Beach, VA, USA – Lucian
Mark L., 12, Franklin, TN, USA – Janus
Michael H.; 10, Saint Michael, MN, USA – Lucian
Zachary K., 11, Biglerville, PA, USA – Lucian
Roosevelt S., 13, Woodstock, CT, USA – Lucian

Book #9 Online Mission Sweepstakes Winners:
1st prize winner of the #9 Online Mission Sweepstakes $850
Kellen M., 11, Leduc, AB, Canada – Tomas

2nd prize winners of the #9 Online Mission Sweepstakes $500
Quinn R., 11, Stevens Point, WI, USA – Ekaterina
Nicholas R., 9, Webster, NY, USA – Tomas
Christian W., 9, Grand Island, NY, USA – Lucian
Grace M., 11, Orlando, FL, USA – Janus
Rand P., 10, Williamsburg, VA, USA – Lucian

3rd prize winners of the #9 Online Mission Sweepstakes $240
Carli R., 10, Berea, KY, USA – Ekaterina
Noah H., 11, Olathe, KS, USA – Tomas
Mark M., 10, New Waterford, NS, Canada – Ekaterina
Terry H., 11, Phoenix, AZ, USA – Tomas
Cameron S., 10, North Logan, UT, USA – Janus
Tyler C., 10, Hurlburt Field, FL, USA – Janus
Patrick O., 12, Woburn, MA, USA – Lucian
Elizabeth P., 14, Plant City, FL, USA – Lucian
Kira Schwartz., 13, Medway, MA, USA – Lucian

"My grandmother bought me my first book when the series first began and I was immediately hooked on the Cahills and the mystery behind it all," said Charles, 13, the first prize winner from Huntington, NY. "It's amazing to think that out of all of the thousands of kids who entered the contest, I was actually selected for the first prize! I had fun playing the games online and collecting the cards but I never believed I would win."

"The immersive reading experience of The 39 Clues continues to get kids excited about reading and joining the hunt," said Stacy Lellos, Vice President of Marketing, Scholastic Trade. "Millions of kids from all over the world have been reading the series fast and furious to find all of the clues, and we are all extremely eager to see who wins the grand prize."

The final series of sweepstakes and contest for Book #10: Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix began on August 31, 2010 12:00 AM EST and ends on December 31, 2010 at 11:59 PM ET. The 39 participants in both the US and Canada who have earned the most points during Episode #10 and collected all 39 clues and assembled them to reveal their final secret before December 31, 2010 will be the potential finalists to compete for the Grand Prize of $10,000.

The 39 Clues launched on September 9, 2008, with Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. On December 2, 2008, Book 2: One False Note by Gordon Korman was released and also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Since then, the series, including Book 3: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis (March 3, 2009), Book 4: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson (June 2, 2009), Book 5: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman (August 11, 2009), Book 6: In Too Deep by Jude Watson (November 3, 2009), Book 7: The Viper's Nest (February 2, 2010) by Peter Lerangis, Book 8: The Emperor's Code (April 6, 2010) by Gordon Korman, and Book 9: Storm Warning (May 25, 2010) by Linda Sue Park and Book 10: Into the Gauntlet (August 31, 2010) by Margaret Peterson Haddix, have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

In addition to the original ten-book arc, in October 2010, Scholastic published "The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets," an ultimate guidebook to the world of The 39 Clues with an introduction by Rick Riordan. Following the success of the series, Scholastic recently announced that it will launch The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, a continuation of the popular franchise, kicking off on April 5, 2011 with the novel Vespers Rising written by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman and Jude Watson.

Movie rights for The 39 Clues were acquired by DreamWorks Studios with Steven Spielberg eyeing to direct and Deborah Forte of Scholastic Media producing. The script is being penned by Jeff Nathanson whose credits include "Catch Me If You Can" and "Rush Hour 2." The 39 Clues Madrigal Maze App for the Apple iPhone™ and iPod Touch® have been ranked among the top "Paid Kids Games" in Apple's App Store since release. The audiobook edition of "Book 10: Into the Gauntlet" from Scholastic Audio was released simultaneously with the hardcover on August 31st.

* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. For more information on the prizes and prize winners, as well as complete details on how to enter and official rules for sweepstakes and contests, visit www.the39clues.com/info/prizes or visit the media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/The39Clues.

** Contest/Sweepstakes Descriptions:

Episode Contest (US/CA only): participants play games in the "Arena 39" mini-game section of the39clues.com

Book Sweepstakes: participants digitize any of the cards that come with the book and are automatically entered into the book sweepstakes

Online Mission Sweepstakes: participants initiate activity in an online mission game to be automatically entered into the online mission sweepstakes

For more information about Scholastic visit our online media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

SOURCE Scholastic Corporation