Book Reviews By Viewers - All Titles

i have saw a dumb cat it was lonly it was hungry it did a sad face and then cried it was very sad for him then he saw a frog but it went away :( sudenly he found his family



the end

The Mysterious
Benedict Society

by

Trenton Lee Stewart

Over the summer, I read The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. The Mysterious Benedict Society is a gripping story with many codes to crack, suspense, chases, and surprises.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a futuristic tale, set in the middle of the largest emergency mankind has ever faced : the Emergency. The free-market is failing, the Governments are collapsing, and the stock market is plummeting. Desperately, all over the world, people are calling for change.

However, this Emergency is pre-meditated by a man who wishes to control and rule the earth : Lepdopthra Curtain. Somewhere in America, on Nomansan Island, a machine is controlling minds using the thoughts of children; children who have been taught precisely what to think. These thoughts are then attached to television and radio signals, latching onto the minds of viewers and making them believe that there is an emergency and that Mr. Curtain is going to save them.

On Nomansan Island, there is an evil school, the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the children are taught to control their thoughts using key words to trigger the memory patterns, which then are broadcast all over the world. The campus is one of the most beautiful places a person could think of. There is a beautiful gym, lovely dormitories, sparkling ocean views, a gourmet cafeteria, and paths for taking relaxing walks on. Stray off the paths, however, and there are traps, 20 foot deep holes covered in drapeweed. Virtually undetectable, these traps can catch any spies looking to disable the Institute. Any students disobeying graduates of the school, or Executives, are thrown into a pit of mud and slime, called The Waiting Room. In the dark and bugs they must wait until they are ready to be ‘talked to’ by Lepdopthra Curtain. Our main characters risk everything: their minds, their memories, and their freedom to investigate and try to destroy the evil machine: the Whisperer.

The main characters’ names are Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance.

Reynie Muldoon is an 11 year old orphan boy who is good at reasoning and solving puzzles. He is a natural leader, good at planning, but quick to blame himself for everything. Reynie is good at improvising new plans to stay alive.

Sticky Washington is a bald 11 year old boy who memorizes EVERYTHING that he reads word for word. Sticky is very sensitive about anything relating to himself, which makes him compulsively polish his spectacles. He is vexed when anybody calls him by his real name : George Washington. Sticky’s parents forced him to enter quiz competitions to make money for them, so Sticky used hair remover on his head to disguise himself and stowed away on a river barge.

Kate Wetherall, is a blonde, athletic, 12 year old girl whose single father disappeared. Kate, who was brought up by the circus, is resourceful and crafty. Never seen without her bucket, which holds all of her tools, Kate finds alternate ways to get into even the most secure places. Kate travels through airvents, down drains, and even escapes with ease from the traps that the Institute has set. Able to fight as well as three people combined, Kate can hold off enemies and get her friends to safety.

Constance Contraire, a small, but stubborn orphan girl, is always sleepy, grumpy and hungry. However, Constance is gifted in ways most people could never imagine. Her age remains a mystery throughout the story, until the end. Constance is very sensitive to the messages that the Whisperer broadcasts. Instead of the Whisperer controlling her thoughts, however, she can hear the key words that are made into poems, like this one:

GROW THE LAWN AND MOW THE LAWN
ALWAYS LEAVE THE TV ON
BRUSH YOUR TEETH TO KILL THE GERMS
POISONED APPLES, POISONED WORMS
These poems are made of the words that trigger memory patterns, storing the data to be broadcasted.

The story starts with an ad in the newspaper. “ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?” To reap the benefits of the special opportunities, children must pass a series of tests designed to challenge their reasoning, knowledge, and courage. Reynie, Constance, Sticky and Kate are the only four to pass. Then, they are brought before Mr. Benedict, a humanitarian committed to saving the world, who also turns out to be the twin of the evil Mr. Curtain. He explains their mission to them, and explains to them about the Whisperer. Kate takes out a stick of gum and says, “I’m in!” without even pausing to consider. They all agree. They decide to call their spying group the Mysterious Benedict Society.

The children are taken to infiltrate the Institute the next morning. Their mission is to learn as much about the whisperer as possible, and signal back their findings to Mr. Benedict and his helpers. Whether they succeed or not is another of the mysteries in this story. You'll just have to read the book to find out.

Without giving anything away, my favorite part of the book is when Kate is sneaking around, spying on Mr. Curtain's private meetings with his staff, in the airvents, causing the Executives to frantically look for mice.

My least favorite part of the book is whenever Constance is eating, because of the disgusting descriptions. She chews with her mouth open, food falls from her mouth to the floor and dribbles onto her chin and down her shirt.

One of the lessons that I learned form this story is to stay alert and never give up. This is illustrated in many scenes. Among my favorite scenes is when Kate is fighting three Executives to defend her friends. The odds are against her, she is exhausted and hungry, and the Executives are all older. She has to prevent the Executives from getting up a ladder to where her friends are battling the effects of the Whisperer. She is bruised and bleeding, but she bravely holds them off until she can not fight any longer. All of the main characters display this courage numerous times as each of them are embroiled in their own secret battles against the Institute.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a book with colorful characters, strong, emotional scenes, and a lot of comic material guaranteed to make you smile. I am sure that your eyes will be glued to it’s pages until you have read it cover to cover.


I hope you read it!
By Anna Ellis

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