The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
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Book Reviews of The Mysterious Benedict Society
Book Review: charming and exciting adventure for all ages
Summary: 5 Stars
I could NOT put this book down! I'm easily above its target age group, but the good reviews here and on Amazon prompted me to pick it up, and I'll be reading the sequel soon.
There are enough reviews that include a summary of the book, so I won't babble long about it. The basic gist of it is this: four children - Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance - work together to solve mysteries and fight evil. Each child has a special talent, one that might not be clear at first glance, but one that makes...more I could NOT put this book down! I'm easily above its target age group, but the good reviews here and on Goodreads prompted me to pick it up.
There are enough reviews that include a summary of the book, so I won't babble long about it. The basic gist of it is this: four children - Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance - work together to solve mysteries and fight evil. Each child has a special talent, one that might not be clear at first glance, but one that makes each child important and crucial to the mission. It's an adventure story about four very special children - a few of whom don't see themselves very special at all - who work together for the benefit of all.
This is the author's first novel, and I'm sure there will be more. Stewart has an easy-going style that fits well with this sort of book: it's an easy read, with cliffhangers that draw you in and make you regret having to put the book down for the night, and it's fun to see the children develop as characters through their adventures. Each has a path to follow, lessons to learn, a job to do, and their bravery, intelligence, problem-solving skills, and loyalty are all admirable traits for real children aspire to. Even though I'm much older than the characters, I found it fairly easy to relate to them. It reminded me of my own childhood (which wasn't THAT long ago! ;) ) and of the adventures I often wished I'd get to go on. Children will absolutely be able to find parts of themselves within each of the characters, and find themselves drawn in and trying to figure out the puzzle for themselves. I love stories that inspire kids to do their best and that show them that they're all special and have something to offer the world. I don't even have kids, but this is definitely one I'd want them to read.
I picked up the sequel today at work because I just couldn't resist, and found myself drawn in immediately. Can't wait to get a chance to read the rest!
Book Review: *Fantastic* Book About Friendships And Extended Families!
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved reading Trenton Lee Stewart's book THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY. It's a wonderful book filled with mystery, suspense, and adventure, and the illustrations by Carson Ellis--on the beginning page of each chapter--are charming.
Readers enter the story through Reynie Muldoon, a young orphan boy who lives at the town orphanage and has no friends. He's smart and observant and answers an ad in the newspaper looking for gifted kids who want "special opportunities." He passes a series of tests and then is put into a group of other gifted kids, who also pass the tests and who are alone or have run away from home and are outcasts, by a man named Mr. Benedict. The other kids--George "Sticky" Washington, Kate Weatherall and Constance Contraire--become a surrogate family for Reynie and for once he feels he belongs. But Mr. Benedict needs the kids to infiltrate a gifted private school to uncover the "how" of a madman who plans on taking over the world. Can these fiercely independent children learn to count on one another and help Mr. Benedict stop the plan?
The book was great and not only did it focus on how friends become families, so that even if readers are orphaned or don't have traditional parents they don't have to be or feel alone, but also how to believe in ones self even when there's no hope.
And it did so with the message hidden in the story itself. Pretty good considering that this is Trenton Lee Stewart's first children's book.
The only minor problem I had was at the end of the story where some of the parents return. I felt that doing so took a little strength away from these children who were anything but ordinary. I felt that the focus should have remained on the extended family that was created by Mr. Benedict, and then the characters would have been stronger. To me, it felt like a cope out, particularly in the case of Sticky Washington, because it seemed like Stewart was trying to give the book a "Disney" type of happy ending.
But either way it's a great book and I highly recommend it to readers of all ages. At the end there's also a sneak peek at the sequel The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey included and a fun quiz to see if readers are "Mysterious Benedict Society" material.
Book Review: Tests, Secrets and Survival
Summary: 5 Stars
There's no better place to start this review out than with the first thing you see on the back of the book:
"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"
Reynie Muldoon has been in an orphanage for forever. The orphanage is his home, and since he really is a gifted child and has a tutor who encourages him to apply, he does. And why not? Miss Perumal has been the only real friend and family young Reynie has ever known, and if she thinks he can do it, well, then why can't he?
Miss Perumal drops Reynie off to take the test, and in a room filled with gifted children, Reynie is the only one who passes and is instructed on how to get to the next phase and what to bring with him. Reynie experiences a series of tests that get more challenging each time. Sometimes the test is worded, sometimes it's based on your reactions to certain situations, and some of it is personal integrity. Very interesting, very mysterious, and about to become the biggest adventure in young Reynie's life.
Reynie is not the only child to have passed the test, there are 3 other children from different groups of test-takers that he ends up spending a lot of time with - why, you ask? Well to form The Mysterious Benedict Society of course!
Now, this is maybe the first quarter of the book. The rest delves into who Mr. Benedict is, why he is recruiting gifted children with a certain background into his society, why they're being sent to an island and what their mission is. Have you figured anything out yet? Oh, and then there are the people he meets and it is very interesting!
This book is an extremely quick read even though it may look a little daunting: it comes in at 485 pages, it does not lag or bore the reader. It's the exact opposite: it lures you in and you can't stop and end up staying up way past your bedtime on a work night. I'm just saying!
Notes on the Cover: I love the cover, but if it's the headquarters it looks like I pictured it, but the people are not where they should be. Once you read the story you'll understand; the people are doing things they actually do in the book, just not necessarily at their headquarters. You'll even know which character is which! If it's a building that's on the island, well, then it looks nothing like it! (Which I'm pretty positive it's not).
Book Review: 2nd grader is crazy about this book
Summary: 5 Stars
Review of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" This is the question asked in The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is a book full of twists, mysteries, and puzzles to figure out.
Reynie is a great puzzle solver, Sticky knows pretty much everything because he reads faster that his head can even decipher it and has a photographic memory, Kate is the athletic person of the bunch who ran away to the circus when she was 7, and Constance, well, let's just say that she is very, very stubborn. These are the children that make up the Mysterious Benedict Society. Dozens of children answer an advertisement in the newspaper to take the test, but only these 4 make it through the 4 stages of the test. After passing the test, they meet Mr. Benedict and learn that messages are being subliminally transmitted on electronic devices to take over the world. He asks them to join him in this dangerous mission to uncover who is committing this crime. They agree to join him and the adventure begins.
In an interview, Trenton Lee Stewart, the author of The Mysterious Benedict Society, cannot describe his favorite pizza, but he surely will pick chocolate chip cookie dough over apple pie as his favorite dessert. When he was little he read comic books about Spiderman, he still thinks that Spiderman is his favorite superhero. He read a lot as a child, some of his favorites were The Hobbit, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Watership Down, but he doesn't remember what he reads as well as Sticky does. He says the idea for this novel came from his belief that children are often seen, rarely heard, and always underestimated!
I used to be scared of long books, but this 485 page, one of a kind, book eliminated that fear. I loved pretty much all of the main characters, except Constance, she is not like me at all because she is really bad mannered. Kate was my favorite because she is like me, very athletic, nice and good mannered.
I would recommend you read The Mysterious Benedict Society if you like daring adventure or solving difficult mysteries. I loved it so much I am reading the sequel, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey.
Book Review: A stupendously smart story of singularly-super spy sprogs
Summary: 5 Stars
The Mysterious Benedict Society begins with a whole lot of children appearing at the appointed place in response to a newspaper ad asking, "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities." After a series of unusual tests (my favorite part of the book), only four remain. The foursome is destined to become a team of spies at The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, run by mastermind genius Ledroptha Curtain. Their mission is to secretly investigate Curtain and his mind-altering device, while masquerading as regular students. Armed with little beyond brains, a bit of brawn, and a bucket, the kids are dropped off at the island school. They learn about its student leaders, the Messengers and Executives, who are given special privileges involving (beware of upcoming spoilers) the Whisperer, a machine invented by Curtain that filters his messages through the minds of certain pupils, which are then transferred directly into the brains of others by way of TV, radio and phone signals. They, in turn, trigger memories of longer, more specific doublespeak-like messages. Children must be used because (p 101) "Where adult thoughts would lumber into the mind like an elephant, children's creep in on cat feet and find a shadowy place to hide." Sticky, Reynie, Kate and Constance keep their leader, Mr. Benedict (thus the group's name), and his two odd intellectual assistants apprised of the situation by using riddles transmitted by Morse code. Keeping ahead of Curtain's minions and the evil Recruiters while trying to learn the mysteries of the Whisperer and its workings leads to several close calls (and a lot of entertainment for the reader). A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And it won't be as long as Mr. Benedict and his team are on the case. The Mysterious Benedict Society is a smart book about a varied group of pre-teens that push past their fears to solve a mental mystery, supporting the contention that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Its humor, challenging vocabulary, and original plot make it an excellent choice for nine to eleven-year-old science fiction and mystery fans. Also good: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and The Giver by Lois Lowery.