Book Twenty-Five: The Mysterious Benedict Society

I judged this book by it's beautifully illustrated cover and it was awesome!  This little gem was picked up as a result of trip to the bookshop with my Sweet Niece.  She is building her collection of Harry Potter books where the spines of the new paperbacks build a silhouette of Hogwarts.  She makes me so proud to be her Kuhkuh.  I should digress.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is made up of four children, each who have been orphaned or abandoned as some point in their short lives.  Sticky, Constance, Reynie, and Kate all answers an unusual newspaper ad to become members of the society.  The team have been recruited to undertake a dangerous mission that requires an unusual set of skills only they possess.

Author Trenton Lee Stewart writes an adventurous yarn.  I had trepidations about a book that paints parents as bad; however,Stewart modestly plots a reconciliation that is befitting our heroes.  Our protagonists are well developed making them interesting.  Stewart doesn't forget his target audience and throws in hilarity in the form of a narcoleptic genius and a wheelchair crazed twin brother.  As an older reader, er, let's say not the target audience, I enjoyed that Stewart also provided clues, riddles, and other conundrums to ponder.  The use of Morse code creates an opening for further discovery.  Also of note, the book is beautifully illustrated.

As I see it, The Mysterious Benedict Society could be very-well under appreciated in the day of ilk such as Ever After High.  (Yes, I died a little inside when Sweet Niece chose Ever After High over the latest Clarice Bean.  But how can I judge?!  Every reader must find their own way.) With characters that example critical thinking and healthy traits, this is a series I could endorse.  Funny enough, I haven't successfully convinced my niece this is a must-read.