Coincidence?

Since the beginning of the school year, Mathieu and I have been reading the 39 Clues series for bedtime. It's a great story about Amy and Dany searching the world for 39 clues. Strangely enough, we started reading book seven last week, a few days before Mandela died. Book seven actually happens in Pretoria, South Africa. Nelson Mandela is discussed in the book. The news and our readings are strangely synched.

The 39 Clues is a series of adventure novels written by a collaboration of authors, including Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman,Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Roland Smith, David Baldacci, Jeff Hirsch and Natalie Standiford. The books chronicle the adventures of two siblings, Amy and Dan Cahill, who discover that they belong to the Cahill family, the most influential family in history. The main story arc concerns Dan and Amy's quest to find the 39 Clues, which are ingredients to a serum that can create the most powerful person on Earth.^[1] Since the release of the first novel The Maze of Bones on September 9, 2008, the books have gained popularity, positive reception, and commercial success. As of July 2010, the book series has about 8.5 million copies in print and has been translated into 24 languages.^[2]The major publisher of the books is Scholastic Press in the United States. Steven Spielberg acquired film rights to the series in June 2008, and a film based on the books will be released in 2014. The series also originated tie-in merchandise, including collectible cards and an interactive internet game.

Christmas Tree Rising.