Publisher Description

Fans of the 39 Clues books will love The Key, the third entry in Michael Grant's middle-grade Magnificent 12 series. Full of adventure and wackiness, the Magnificent 12 books are also perfect for readers of funny, action-filled series like Dan Gutman's Genius Files.

With 21 phobias, Mack MacAvoy is more of a wimpy kid than a hero, but he is on a quest to defeat the wicked--and crazy, and mean, and dangerous--Pale Queen before her three-thousand-year banishment ends.

In The Key, Mack must find more of the Magnificent 12, the twelve twelve-year-olds fated to stop the queen from destroying the world, and assemble a key--a cheat sheet, really--to a magical language. Along the way, he'll transform the Loch Ness monster into a gigantic duck, and transport the Eiffel Tower across the River Seine.

The Key is another fast-paced episode in Michael Grant's bestselling and hysterical fantasy adventure series.

Back Cover

The Key is the key! Time is short for Mack MacAvoy and the Magnifica! The only way to defeat the Pale Queen and her evil daughter, Risky, is to learn the magical language of Vargran. If only ancient, magical languages came with cheat sheets . . . . . . Oh! But they do! (Or at least, this one does. We can't speak for any other ancient, magical languages.) Mack, Jarrah, Xiao, Dietmar, and Stefan travel to Europe to find the Key, an engraved stone that unlocks the power of Vargran. But can they locate the invisible castle of William "Blisterth

Author Biography

Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, the Messenger of Fear series, the Magnificent Twelve series, and the Front Lines trilogy, has spent much of his life on the move. Raised in a military family, he attended ten schools in five states, as well as three schools in France. Even as an adult he kept moving, and in fact he became a writer in part because it was one of the few jobs that wouldn't tie him down. His fondest dream is to spend a year circumnavigating the globe and visiting every continent. Yes, even Antarctica. He lives in California with his wife, Katherine Applegate, with whom he cowrote the wildly popular Animorphs series. You can and follow him on Twitter @MichaelGrantBks.

Review

"The series continues to gather steam, driven by a winning mix of danger, suspense, and daffy doings." -- ALA BooklistPraise for The Magnificent 12: The Call: "Grant's brand of action and humor should satisfy both those readers who get down with fantasy and those who prefer to send it up." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksPraise for The Magnificent 12: The Trap: "Grant's talent for quick dialogue and vivid descriptiosn still shines and will have fans eager for book three." -- Kirkus Reviews"This third installment in the Magnificent 12 series speeds forward with the help of over-the-top action sequences and rapid, clever dialogue. Action, adventure, fantasy, humor and a glimpse of a potential budding romance are all here, making this a great end-of-summer read." -- Kirkus Reviews

Review Quote

"This third installment in the Magnificent 12 series speeds forward with the help of over-the-top action sequences and rapid, clever dialogue. Action, adventure, fantasy, humor and a glimpse of a potential budding romance are all here, making this a great end-of-summer read."

Details