The Mysterious Benedict Society

Wow! Trenton Lee Stewart has a serious talent. I think it is a rare book that has both an amazing, creative, original plot and amazing writing as well. Stewart's sentences are a thing of beauty! My 7-year-old and I like to read books together. This is a fantastic choice to read aloud because the words flow off the tongue like poetry and effortlessly create well-developed scenes in your head. I have read books with "big" words before that feel like the author overused a thesaurus in an attempt to shove some "class" into the story. The results are awkward at best. This book is anything but awkward; the flow is pure magic. I loved not only the way Stewart wrote but what he wrote as well. This was a great book to use to teach about sarcasism and sardonicism. After reading a passage, I often stopped and my daughter and I would discuss it. We also discussed the title. I asked her if she thought the word "mysterious" was modifying Benedict or Society, how the answer to that changed the meaning significantly, and how the lack of a comma gave us the author's answer. Such fun! This book is also fabulous for making inferences and predictions. Early on we made one wild prediction that we found was correct at the end of the chapter "Stands and Falls." My daughter and I jumped up and did a happy dance all over the house at finding we were correct about what initially seemed a rather far-fetched guess! We also enjoyed looking up Morse code and sending secret messages to each other! My daughter loves crafts also so we decided to make necklaces of our names using round beads and bar beads! As an adult, my favorite passage in the book was: ...In certain ways, the Institute did remind them of other schools: Rote memorization of lessons was discouraged but required; class participation was encouraged but only rarely permitted; and although quizzes were given every day, in every class, there was always at least one student who groaned, another who acted surprised, and another who begged the teacher, in vain, not to give it. My daughter did not seem to share my utter delight in the passage and was definitely baffled when I had to stop in the middle of reading to text a picture of it to my mom!! This is definitely a fun book for adults as well! Altogether great learning completely disguised as great fun! Can you ask for anything more?

I read this book myself and when I finished I couldn't wait to start reading it with my own children. We are about three-quarters of the way through and they are loving it as much as I did. This is the story of four children who are alone in the world but who become a team after answering a newspaper ad promising 'special opportunities' and passing a series of tests, which are themselves unique and fun -- testing for traits that are not immediately apparent. After the team is formed, the kids must attend an isolated school run by a villainous mastermind trying to (of course) take over the world! The book is immediately engaging and tists and suspense capture children's interest quickly and continue unabated. The book has clues, puzzles, adventure, kid heroes and a terrrific ending. I can't wait to read the next one -- I'm not waiting for the kids! I really liked that the children are a true team, each with unique and essential talents, and they help each other -- they could not succeed in their mission without each one of them. There are bad guys who are evil but not nightmare-inducing; there are dilemmas and doubts which are surmounted; not all the adults are bad or stupid, as in many children's books; and the resolution is believable, fun and satisfying. What I didn't like was ... well, I can't think of a thing. This book can be read alone by capable 5th graders (and despite its length it will keep them interested) or it's a terrific read-aloud book. Highly recommended.

I stumbled upon this novel while I was wondering through the children's section of my local bookstore looking for a gift for my nephew. Since he's only two, I couldn't justified buying it for him (yet), but it seemed intriguing enough to add to my pile. I'm really glad I made that decision because The Mysterious Benedict Society has the makings of another Potter-esque series for young adult readers and grown-ups alike. Reynie Muldoon is a genius. At 11-years-old he's completed all of the required courses through the high school level and he's constantly on the lookout for new challenges. It's because of this that he answers a classified ad in the newspaper advertising special opportunities for gifted children. From there, he goes on to meet three other extraordinary young people and a back-up cast of talented adults, all dedicated to tracking down and stopping the source of "The Emergency". This is a really thought-provoking story that doesn't take the intelligence of children for granted. In fact, it allows that intelligence to blossom through the insertion of subtle riddles and tests for the reader as you go along. For adults, there are times when the answers to these riddles may seem obvious - When that happens, be sure to remind yourself that you are reading a children's book! It's easy to forget sometimes because the writing style pulls no punches and never "dumbs down" to accomodate a younger audience. Personally, I think this is great because I'm a complete advocate for challenging young minds. The set-up of this story does take some time (the first 150 pages or so) and sometimes seems a little tedious when reading. It's because of this that I only awarded 4 stars, as opposed to 5. However, push through and you won't be sorry. I did and now I'm really looking forward to seeing what adventures lie in store for Reynie and the rest of the Mysterious Benedict Society.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is an action-packed book with very diverse and complimentary characters with lots of traits that help defeat the antagonist. This book is about a few young orphans with unique traits. They formed a team, and have to act as secret agents to defeat a bad guy, who’s trying to send mysterious messages into peoples minds and he tries to brainwash them. I liked the book because it was always tense, and it made me always want to read the next page. This would be fun for people who liked books with lots of tension and mystery as well as lots of character development, and some comical arguments. Most people who liked “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume would like this book.

Fun plot line, we did this for our nightly reading. Kids are aged 8-10 and stayed interested, took about three weeks to get through.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a delightful story for young and old alike. I found that I could not put it down.

These kids may be too young to drive speedy cars, use dangerous gadgets and do death defying stunts but they’re not too young to go on a mission to stop the bad guy. We first meet Reynie, a nice orphan who sees a great opportunity for kids like him in the newspaper: a series of mind bending tests. He manages to pass the tests and is acquainted by others who did too: awkward Sticky, rambunctious Kate and short know-it-all Constance. They all meet the man responsible for the strange tests, oddball genius Mr. Benedict, who has chosen them to go on a mission to find out who’s behind the series of kidnappings that’s baffled even local law enforcement and must work and get along together and use their unique skills. A charming and intriguing adventure with an eccentric personality. Its lore, characters and group of kids have that feel that reminded me of Snicket’s “ASOUE” series, including their problem solving skills. My favorite moments included how we see Reynie and his new friends work together and eventually bonding into a great team. It ends well while showing that their adventure is turning into something new but also that it’s only begun. A compelling charmer. <b>A (100%/Outstanding)</b>

My 11 year old read this book in two days and thoroughly enjoyed it and begged for the rest of the series.

Really good. The book came in very good condition and I really like it.

I read this book along-side my 11-year-old (he was reading it for a school project). The story is quite good and gets kids hooked, and it isn’t too complicated, so they just keep reading. Will buy the sequel!

届いたときには、本の厚さに圧倒されそうでしたが、 読み始めたら止まらない、どんどん引き込まれていくこのスリル！ 読み終わった後の疲労感は今までにないほどでしたが、 ハッピーエンドでこちらも幸せな気分になりました。 子供向けの本でしたが、私にはちょっと難しい単語が多かったなあ。 多読の目的で購入しましたが、かなり辞書に頼りました。 TOEIC８００点を持っていれば楽に読めるのかな。 英検２級程度では難しいかも（あくまで個人的な感想ですが）。

The book is quite big and it is a bit difficult to finish it but the story is interesting and original !

my 10 year old boy found it really intriguing. well crafted. loved this.