NEW YORK, NY, Oct. 14, 2009 (Marketwire) --

NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 10/14/09 -- Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) invites kids and schools around the world to participate in The 39 Clues(TM) live webcast on November 2, 2009, at 1:30 P.M. EST, hosted by award-winning actor and children's book author Whoopi Goldberg. During the one-hour "The 39 Clues: Advanced Agent Training" webcast, Ms. Goldberg will engage in a dialog with the authors of the bestselling multi-media series -- Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, and Patrick Carman -- and will challenge kids and classrooms on the following core skills: critical thinking, research, deductive reasoning, geography, history, and math. Kids can participate throughout the webcast, posting their answers to the challenges and seeing how they stack up against other participants in the audience and worldwide. For more information and to find out how to participate in this fun, interactive webcast, log on to www.scholastic.com/the39clueswebcast.

Whoopi Goldberg, a fan of the series since its launch a year ago, hosted the first The 39 Clues webcast in December 2008 featuring author Gordon Korman. Ms. Goldberg wrote about the series in her online column, "...well-thought-out and smartly written and I think that kids will really dig it! I'm loving it."

The newest title, "Book 6: In Too Deep" by Jude Watson will be released on November 3, 2009. There are more than five million copies in print for books 1-6 in the series. The 39 Clues interactive reading experience continues to gain momentum online with even more kids from all 50 states and 191 countries joining the hunt for clues. The online game at www.the39clues.com has drawn more than 670,000 registered users since its launch in September 2008, and The 39 Clues series has been licensed in 20 languages to date. A 39 Clues App for the iPhone(TM) and iPod Touch®, entitled Madrigal Maze, was released last month.

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), and "Book 5: The Black Circle" by Patrick Carman (August 11, 2009), have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Movie rights for "The 39 Clues" have been acquired by DreamWorks Studios with Steven Spielberg eyeing to direct.