Boys Rule Boys Read!: March 2013

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Day of Doom--The Last 39 Clues Book--Well, at Least the Last Cahills vs. Vespers Book

Hey, everyone, this is your friendly neighborhood Iron Guy, coming to you with a dual review of Day of Doom by David Baldacci, the last book in the Cahills vs. Vespers series. Our good friend Michael read the book before I did. He and I have slightly different perspectives on it, so let's hear what Michael says first:

Cahills Vs. Vespers, book 6
Day of Doom
by David Baldacci
This is it, guys! The final battle against the Vespers! As you may remember from the last book, the four friends had just discovered that the Vespers were planning on building Archimedes' doomsday device with which to take over the world. Well, this book is basically answer after answer to every question since Vespers Rising. What does Amy's gear/ring do? What does the Doomsday device do exactly? What's Isabel going to do? Is Pheonix still alive? Will the hostages escape? What will happen to the Wyomings? What does the serum do? Who is Vesper One? And one more thing... four important people will die. Alistair was just the beginning. Who will they be? Every single one of these questions is answered in this epic last book of the second series in The 39 Clues. By the way, unlike a lot of other series finales I've read, this one has an absolute perfect ending.
But guess what guys? It's not over! A third series called Unstoppable will premiere in fall of this year with the first book being Nowhere to Run by Jude Watson. And, as I always say, don't miss the Steven Spielberg movie series starting in 2014!

Michael Lanier
Pianist, guitarist, banjoist, autoharpist, jaw harpist, Ukeist, Mandolinist

Very good, Michael. Thanks! He's captured the book much better than I could have and he's right--the story is exciting and epic and a fitting conclusion to this terrific series. But I'm not quite as enthusiastic about this one as he is--and I'm not sure why. It was fun, just like all the other 39 Clues books have been, but it just wasn't as grand and glorious a conclusion as I had hoped it would be. Like Into the Gauntlet was. All the other books in this series were terrific but I thought this one was good. Even very good--but not truly and amazingly good, so good that it makes me miss my bus stop, so good that I can't wait for my lunch hour so I can run in and read a few more pages, like the others have been. Maybe it's because I'm a boring old grownup and have read a lot of books and it's harder to impress me. Maybe because I felt a little disappointed when I finally learned the secret behind those mysterious texts from AJT. Maybe because it became obvious to me who would save the day in the end (although I didn't see that coming at first--and neither will you!!) BUT, all that said, this is still a good, fun, thrilling read and you should not miss it!

OK, all you 39 Clues fans out there, let me hear what YOU think. Do you agree more with Michael or me?? And are you excited about the upcoming movie series? I think Michael and I would agree that we can hardly wait!!!

Here's How Our Blog Works

If you don't know how to post comments or reviews to our blog or if you want to read what we and other boys have written, here's what you do:

1. Every post has a place underneath it that says "Comments". Click on it and it will take you to a place in which you can write something. When you're done, click on a way to identify yourself. You don't have to create a Blogger/Google account (unless you already have one); you can click on "Name/URL" or even "Anonymous." Then click "Publish Your Comment." We try to get your comments and reviews posted right away, but sometimes we get busy with other duties. So, if you don't see your comment right away, don't panic. We'll post it soon.

Don't forget--any boy can get a free book the first time he writes a review. If you live too far away to come to the Myers Park library, go ahead and write to us anyway. We'll try to find a way to get a book to you. Besides, all the other boys out there would love to hear from you.

When you tell us about a book, please give the title, author, what the book is about, and why you did or didn't like it.

2. Blogs go "front to back"; that is, the newest post comes up first and the older ones are put further back. You click on the "Blog Archive" to read older articles. The posts for this month have the titles listed. You can click on other months to catch our other posts. (Our introduction is in June of 2007; if you're new to this blog, you might look it up.)

3. Underneath each post you'll see a line that says "Labels" and several other words such as "graphic novels" or "Andrew Clements." These extra words are links to a subject; for instance, if you clicked on "graphic novels," it would pull up all the posts about graphic novels. There's also a section below on some of our best posts on the most popular subjects

4. Did you notice that the posts from last year don't show up month by month as they did before this year? If you click on the triangle next to the previous years, the months will drop down and you can go back and see what we and your fellow readers have written.

The Iron Guy's Review Policy

1. Since the Iron Guy works for the terrific Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, I review only books that the library already has or will get soon.
2. If you are an author or publisher or agent and think you have a book that boys will go crazy over, please leave me a comment (with your email address so I can contact you) under any post. I will look and see if we have the book. If not, and if the book looks good, I will contact Those Who Order Books and see if CML would be interested. (Please note--CML does not usually order self-published books) PLEASE do not just send me a book! I appreciate the offer but but first I want to see if CML has it or will get it soon.