Ms. Bookish’s Quick Take: I know, I know. The Mysterious Benedict Society has been all the rage, and it’s taken me a while to get to it. But read it I did, this past week, and I am very very glad that I did. You know the book that was capable of making you feel really really happy in grade school, so that it didn’t matter what happened in everyday life, because you had the characters of the book to keep in your heart and the wonderful story to keep in your mind? This is one of those books. I’m glad I finally got it from my to-be-read pile into my “I read it and I loved it pile.” See below for the full review.
From the back cover:
“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 rihgt 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. With their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?
The Full Review of The Mysterious Benedict Society
I’ve had The Mysterious Benedict Society sitting in my to-be-read pile for over a year. I think subconsciously I was just waiting for that perfect moment – you know, that one perfect moment to read a spectacular book that makes you happy and tingly and smiley all at the same time?
Anyway, it’s like having babies. The perfect time never really comes. So eventually you pick up the book and find yourself fabulously lost in a world that you could never have ever imagined before, only the writer (in this case, Trenton Lee Stewart) makes his particular world come so alive, after you finish, you can’t remember back when you weren’t acquainted with his world.
That’s how reading The Mysterious Benedict Society felt to me. I read this book at a breathless gallop, in the space of time between breakfast and lunch, and it was a wonderful, wild and very joyous ride. The characters are endearing, particularly Reynie Muldoon who, let’s face it, is the kid that I wanted to be way back when, nerdiness and all.
The plot is fast-paced and engrossing, and realistic all at once, even in the midst of its fantastical setting. That is the kind of writing and plotting that makes a classic out of a children’s fantasy book, and Stewart has achieved this with much grace. The entire read is a boatload of fun, very engrossing and you come away from it very much in love with the characters. It’s sad to close the book and let them go.
Which is why it’s such a good thing the sequel is out already: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (Mysterious Benedict Society). I put it on my list as soon as I finished the The Mysterious Benedict Society. Which, in case it’s not clear, this book is Highly Recommended. Ms. Bookish’s Rating: A+: A Keeper ?
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Gotta get this!!