The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Four children with unusual talents are recruited for a top-secret mission. There is only one rule - there are no rules. How can they work together to save the world?
A cracking adventure begins...
Reynie Muldoon, Sticky Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire each answer a curious ad in the paper ("Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?") and pass a series of befuddling tests before meeting Mr. Benedict, an intelligent eccentric who has a mission for them. The mission can only be completed by a group of children and the fate of the world is at stake.
The Mysterious Benedict Society is the first in a series (followed by MBS and the Perilous Journey and MBS and the Prisoner's Dilemma). I doubt I'll read the other books because I didn't enjoy The Mysterious Benedict Society as much as I thought I would (BUT I'm not exactly the target audience).1 I plan to send my copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society to... hmmmm... I was going to say "nieces" (children of sister-in-law #3), but now I'm thinking my nephew (son of sister-in-law #2) would like it as well. Maybe I'll have to buy a second copy.
- The book is quite long (my British edition is 472 pages) and it dragged for me. I liked the first part of the book much better (the foundation of the society) than the mission itself (which should have been the exciting bit).
I'd considered reading this one a while back but now I think I'll skip it as I'm not in the target audience either. Thanks for saving me the time.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I have this experience I always end up wishing that either the book was out when I was young or that I had discovered it earlier.
ReplyDeleteI read this book ages ago and have never managed to read on in the series. I think it is because I liked it, but would have liked it better at a different stage in my life...
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I feel, Kailana.
ReplyDelete