The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society, written by Trenton Lee Stewart, is a fantastic story that will keep you reading until after midnight. This is the first book in a series of three so far, but I think there will be a fourth in the future. This fiction story tells you in a special way that you shouldn't judge others, especially children.

Reynard Muldoon (known as Reynie), George Washington (no, not the real one, he's known as Sticky), Constance Contraire, and Kate Wetherall meet for the first time after taking several hard tests. They're all there because they have a powerful love of truth. I know, you're thinking that sounds dumb and weird. However, it doesn't seem weird at all when Mr. Benedict, the genius who brought all of them together, introduces them to a top secret, dangerous, life-threatening mission that involves saving the world. The kids must go to an Institute where the students don't learn math or science, not even history. Turns out the head of the Institute, Mr. Curtain, is secretly inserting messages by television and radio that could give him power. The children broadcast these messages to the world. These messages are known as the Emergency. The Emergency was created from these messages and they must be stopped. How will the kids stop Mr. Curtain? Will they do it in time?

This book was so much fun to read. It makes you laugh, cringe, bite your fingernails, keep you reading in the night, and cry if you're really sensitive. Every chapter ending makes me want to keep reading for hours on end. There are many riddles and puzzles in the book and I loved to do them along with the Mysterious Benedict Society. I admit, some parts can be a little slow, but it's worth it. This also kept me thinking . . what if there were some hidden messages being sent by television and radio? What would I do then? Would I be on the Mysterious Benedict Society?

All in all, this was a great book. It's so exciting and I would recommend it to anyone. Not only does it challenge you, it's a lot of fun to read and gets more exciting the further in you get. The story comes to life and it has kept me thinking about it for a while. As I said a couple paragraphs up, the theme is not judging people, especially kids. In this book, adults and older people at the Institute are always judging them, saying they're not smart enough, and that they wouldn't figure that out, they're only kids and such. Turns out, even one of the kids is smarter than 5 adults combined. No one should judge until they really get to know that person. Remember, everyone read this amazing book!

Grade: A