Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society (Stewart)

(Do you have young readers in search of something news? Book Monkey Sydney, a fifth grader, reviews The Mysterious Benedict Society, the first book of a series that aims for young readers seeking interesting and challenging novels.)

 

“Although he was only eleven years old, he was quite used to figuring things out for himself.” This line hooked me into The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It reflects the main idea of the book, which is about four children who must solve a problem using their talents. 

The protagonists of the story are Reynie Muldoon, a really smart orphan who excels at solving riddles; George Washington, a runaway who goes by “Sticky” because everything he sees “sticks” in his head (wow!); Kate Wetherhall, a talented, athletic girl who carries a bucket full of useful tools (cool!) and whose mother died and father disappeared; and Constance Contraire, a stubborn two-year-old orphan (sound like anyone I know?). 

The antagonist of the story is Ledroptha Curtain, a dangerous inventor who founded the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.), which is the setting of the book, and who invented the “Whisperer.”Mr. Curtain and his invention are the obstacles that the children must overcome in the climax. The Whisperer is a high-tech gizmo that sends out messages through children that piggyback on TV, radio, and phone signals and then are transmitted to the masses that use those devices. Mr. Curtain’s intent is to use the messages to change peoples’ feeling towards certain issues.

The L.I.V.E. is a free boarding school where the lessons are not about math or reading, but about personal hygiene and the evils of government. If children excel in their classes, they might be promoted to the rank of “Messenger.” The Whisperer soothes the Messengers’ fears, as long as the Messengers send out messages. Mr. Curtain needs children to send his messages because they slip into people’s minds unnoticed, whereas, if he sent them, people would notice. 

   

The book starts out with Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance separately responding to an advertisement in the paper offering children “special opportunities” if they pass four complicated tests. The tests were created by a Mr. Benedict, who needed four smart children to go to L.I.V.E. as his secret agents and stop Mr. Curtain from implementing his evil plan. Mr. Benedict is Mr. Curtain’s twin brother, but he is very kind. Mr. Benedict informs them about Mr. Curtain and the messages, but doesn’t know how they’re sent. Then he tells them that they are to go to L.I.V.E. to be his secret agents so they can find out how Mr. Curtain is sending the messages. 

 A few days after the children arrive at L.I.V.E, the conflict arises. The children realize Mr. Curtain has boosted the power of the messages so they can be transmitted directly to the masses without the need of electronic signals. Reynie and his friends realize they need to hurry up and become Messengers. This moves the story along in a good way because it helps the children speed up their mission and become Messengers. Once he becomes a Messenger, Reynie realizes why the Whisperer is so loved by the Messengers: it soothes all their fears and gives them an astonishing sense of well being. 

 The next day, the children realize that Mr. Curtain can now record Messenger sessions. This means that he can broadcast messages around the clock, even without someone in the Whisperer. Launching an investigation, they find Mr. Curtain’s secret office, and also find out that he plans to take over the world with his Whisperer. Typical evil-genius-takes-over-the-world-and-needs-to-be-stopped plot. 

The children hatch a plan to thwart Mr. Curtain, but things start to go awry. First, the boys become trapped in a room with Mr. Curtain. Sticky starts to resist the Whisperer but fails. Then, Reynie alerts the girls to their predicament by the children’s secret code, but some of Mr. Curtain’s henchmen overhear the message and catch up with the girls. During the fight that follows, Constance the toddler, whose strength is her stubbornness, slips into the Whisperer. She resists it so much the machine is baffled. The conflict is resolved when Mr. Benedict and his assistants arrive and rescue the children and disable the Whisperer. 

 The ending was awesome, but I can’t give it away, so read the book! Since this is part of a trilogy, we know the happiness will be short-lived. Whew. More danger coming!

 The theme of this book is friendship. The four children all showed love and friendship towards each other throughout the book. I learned that friends are family, even if you don’t share blood. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because of the intriguing characters, interesting plot, and fascinating setting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys seeing children fixing adult-created problems (and making them look dumb in the process!).

 Next up – I will tackle The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. 

SFM