New York, NY — February 22, 2011 — The 39 Clues™ is giving 39 children in the United States a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, announces the global finalists for the final cash prize from The New York Times bestselling multi-media book series. The 39 U.S. finalists will compete using their in-depth knowledge of the series, and one of them will take home the U.S. Grand Prize of $10,000. Grand prize contests are also taking place simultaneously in Canada, Australia and Asia, while winners of grand prize sweepstakes will be selected in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. For more information about the global grand prize finalists, click on this link: http://www.the39clues.com/winners/grandprize. To date, more than 1.4 million readers from around the globe have joined the hunt for the Clues by registering at www.the39clues.com to digitize cards, complete online missions and earn points, and over the course of two years, $125,000 in U.S. prizes will have been awarded.

"We continue to be amazed by the number of readers worldwide who are engaged in The 39 Clues multi-media adventure," said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. "This immersive reading experience has brought together the most knowledgeable and skilled clue hunters and we look forward to announcing the grand prize winner next month."

The 39 Clues grand prize finalists were determined by those entrants who collected all 39 Clues through the books and online missions by December 31, 2010, at 11:59 PM ET, and were among the top point earners in Arena 39, the mini-game area of the website, between August 31, 2010, 12:00 AM EST and December 31, 2010, at 11:59 PM ET. The 39 Clues Grand Prize Contest tournament will take place between March 1, 2011 and March 3, 2011. During that time, finalists will participate in a thirty-nine question multiple choice online quiz based on information from the world of The 39 Clues. The finalists from each country to answer the most questions correctly in the least amount of time will be awarded the grand prize for that country. The U.S. Grand Prize reward is $10,000. The global Grand Prize winners will be announced on March 9, 2011.

Each of the adrenaline-charged books in the 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 that hold the key to the Cahill family power. Although the prizing entry period has ended, the hunt continues in the books and online at www.the39clues.com, with another new series of adventures to be published starting on August 30, 2011.

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 by Peter Lerangis (February 2, 2010), Book 8: The Emperor's Code by Gordon Korman (April 6, 2010), Book 9: Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park (May 25, 2010), and Book 10: Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix (August 31, 2010), have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

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. The latest 39 Clues novel, Book 11: Vespers Rising, written by Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman and Jude Watson, will be released on April 5, 2011. Vespers Rising will be followed this fall by The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, a second story arc of the popular franchise.

A 39 Clues movie is in development at DreamWorks Studios with Steven Spielberg eyeing to direct and Deborah Forte of Scholastic Media producing. The script is 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® has been ranked among the top "Paid Kids Games" in Apple’s App Store since release.

For more information on past prizes and prize winners, visit www.the39clues.com/info/prizes or visit the media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/The39Clues.

For more information about The 39 Clues, and to download digital images, visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/The39Clues.

CONTACTS:

Charisse Meloto
212-389-3785
cmeloto@scholastic.com

Emma Brockway
212-343-6351
ebrockway@scholastic.com