When orphan Reynard “Reynie” Muldoon answers an enigmatic advertisement in the paper, he didn’t know what to expect. What he probably did NOT expect, however, was to be swept into an adventure involving three other uniquely-gifted children, a secret mission, dastardly worldwide conspiracies, subliminal messaging, abducted children (and secret agents), and lots and lots of riddles.
Expected or not, that’s what happened. After a few tests, Reynie found himself part of the Mysterious Benedict Society, a team of children hand-picked by the benevolent Mr. Benedict to carry out a vital mission: to go undercover at a shadowy Institute to stop some unidentified—but unquestionably horrible—plan from successfully unfolding.
Somehow, secret messages are being transmitted via television and radio* into people’s minds, and only Mr. Benedict has been able to discover them. Unfortunately, these messages have a protective fail-safe: they convince the people that hear these messages that the messages don’t exist. Only minds that are particularly focused on the truth can detect them at all…which is where the Mysterious Benedict Society comes in.
Reynie is clever, thoughtful, and introspective. He is also a natural leader, which comes in handy on many occasions during this perilous first mission of his team.
He’s joined by George “Sticky” Washington, a runaway boy with a photographic memory (everything “sticks” to his brain). Being named after the first president of the United States is a tall order for a little kid, especially such a timid one, and Sticky spends most of the book wrestling with feelings of failure and insignificance.
What she may lack in book-smarts, Kate “The Great Kate Weather Machine” Weatherall more than makes up for in energetic imagination. Perpetually accompanied by her trusty bucket (which holds a variety of useful items), she can do pretty much anything.
Rounding out the group is the round—and unnaturally short—Constance Contraire. True to her name, she is a grouch who sleeps and complains too much and has a predilection of writing sarcastic poetry in place of any other tasks she’s asked to accomplish. In a mission that requires a lot of stubborn resistance against the subtle forces of evil, however, she is a powerful tool.
This book series by Trenton Lee Stewart seems geared toward preteens; as a teen, I’d read only the first book or two of this series, and decided as an adult to revisit it.
I’ve read online that the book was
reminiscent of a Roald Dahl story: while I did pick up on a retro feel that
might account for that, Stewart’s writing style lacks the dark satire I’ve
always sensed in Dahl—as an example, compare the “eccentric mentor” characters of
the wholesome Mr. Benedict and uncanny Willy Wonka.
While I still have the rest of the series to read, so far I have been impressed with the emotional depth, thematic maturity, and the deft handling of all four protagonists as their characters interact and grow. This story is certainly not one that can be read passively; the plot invites the reader to think actively, trying to anticipate the twists and turns, as well as encouraging the reader to seek the truth, solve problems, lead, conquer fears, use their imagination, and to resist evil.
*Obviously, this book was written a bit before social media became so pernicious!
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