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The Mysterious Benedict Society | 
 enlarge | Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Creator: Carson Ellis
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.55
You Save: $3.44 (49%)
New (42) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $3.47
Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 123
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 0316003956
EAN: 9780316003957
ASIN: 0316003956
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: H20081114205835T
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Product Description
"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"
When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?
Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 102 more reviews...
 The mysterious... December 2, 2008
Michelle Polk (Mississippi, USA)
Absolutely fabulous book! Yeah!! No dragons, no blood and guts, or horrid creatures! An excellent book for all ages. Puzzles, secrets,and mysteries abound in this wonderful childrens book.
Interesting, Yet Entertaining. December 1, 2008
Jane M.N. (Liverpool, United Kingdom)
I am very pleased to be working on reading the second book (The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey), and I have heard that there will be a third book coming out, and I hope this is true, as I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It tells to story of Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon, George "Sticky" Washington, Kate Wetherhall, and Constance Contraire, all four children gifted. Reynie is naturally intelligent. Sticky can read or hear anything and memorize it just as it was written or spoken. Kate has natural intelligence, and Constance... the three other children don't see much intelligence in her. She is rather small. The children had to start off by taking an "Intelligence Test" that was advertised in the newspaper, and there were many other children there. But by the time all sections of the test were complete, only the four of them were left, and they were taken to Mr. Benedict's house, where he was to meet with them. The children wondered why it had been them that were picked, since some of them were sure that they had missed at least a few questions on the test. It is revealed to them that Mr. Benedict only picked orphans, children who didn't know the location of their parents, or children that had run away from home (in Sticky's case). Mr. Benedict also reveals that he had the test held and the four children selected so they could be part of an experiment. There is an institution that is called the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (EVIL when the initials are spelt backwards), and the institution is somewhat mysterious. Mr. Benedict decided that he would send a few children that he recruited to the Institute, and the Institute is run by Ledroptha Curtain (who is Mr. Benedict's long-lost twin brother, as revealed at the end of the book.) The children are sent to the Institute on Nomansan Island. They communicate with Mr. Benedict (who is on another island) using flashlights and Morse Code. Once they arrive, Sticky and Reynie do well on the quizzes, while Kate and Constance do horribly. The students who do the best on quizzes in consecutive weeks get promoted to Messenger, which is a position that has special privileges. The whole purpose that Mr. Benedict sent the children are to find what those privileges might be. Sticky and Reynie try to help Constance and Kate do better on their quizzes, and even go as far as cheating to help them. Soon, Sticky is caught giving answers to Constance through secret code. Sticky is then sent to "The Waiting Room", which is supposed to be a horrible place where Mr. Curtain has a talk with you, which is associated with punishment in the minds of some students. He comes back later that night covered in mud and traumatized.
This book was a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
2nd grader is crazy about this book December 1, 2008
T. Anderson (Phoenix, AZ United States)
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.
 Plenty of mental and physical adventure to please readers of all ages November 24, 2008
Touche LaRue (Toronto, Ontario Canada)
This book revolves around the trials and tribulations of four orphans who, after completing a serious of challenging and unorthodox tests, are tasked with a highly dangerous mission, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. In order to prevail (supposing that they do indeed find themselves triumphant), they must face their greatest fears and learn to trust one another and come together as a team. Each child brings an important skill to the team (though the importance of some of these skills are not revealed until very late in the book), and it is only united that they can hope to be successful. There is plenty of action and adventure throughout the book, but for all the physical skirmishes, the book is also filled with puzzles, riddles, and mental strategizing. As such, I think it would appeal to a wide variety of children (because it is kid lit), but certainly adults as well. Strong core themes of friendship, family, bravery, truth, and intellectual freedom run throughout the novel, although the latter one might be a bit esoteric/advanced for most child readers; still, Stewart handles all of the issues in a fairly elegant way, and avoids being pedantic. I found the first part of the book where everything is shrouded in mystery stronger than the latter part of the novel, where things do lose steam a bit and the plot seems to meander.
Overall, I didn't exactly feel as though this book held the same magic of the Harry Potter books (no pun intended!) despite the comparisons, but I did enjoy it, and read it quickly (despite its length). The characters were all sympathetic, but not necessarily as well-developed or sympathetic as those in the Potter novels (for instance, Mr. Benedict, is a far cry from Albus Dumbledore). It was a solid first novel (it appears there will be a series), but everything added up to a very good, but not necessarily great, book. Perhaps subsequent books will allow for more meaningful development for all four characters. I won't be rushing out to read the next one (as I did with Chamber of Secrets, after finishing Philosopher's Stone), but I certainly intend to eventually read the next book and the next adventure.
thrilling book November 23, 2008
Thinking about Pink
This is an exciting book. Readers will want to know what will happen to Reynie when he takes the test. Will he pass? A good book for ages 10 to adult.
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