A Look At 'The Mysterious Benedict Society'

This summer’s hit at our house is a 485-page book that was published in 2007, The Mysterious Benedict Society (MBS). Part of the menu on my daughter’s reading group’s plate, the MBS is a child’s book that adults can appreciate at their level too.

MBS inhabits a world as distinct as Alice’s, as full of contributing tertiary characters as are described by Boz, and is almost as full of literary, political, economic, and societal commentary and shenanigans as Gulliver encounters in Lilliput.

The book opens with an introduction to the main character, orphan Reynie Muldoon, who responds to a curious newspaper ad: "Are you a gifted child looking for Special Opportunities?" He is soon taking exams for admission into the MBS that test his brain, character, and spirit.

He passes the tests and finds himself in the select company of the few others, from among thousands who applied but failed, who also passed: Sticky Washington, a bespectacled child with a photographic memory; the tall and adventuresome tomboy Kate Weatherhill; and a tiny child who lives up to her name, Constance Contraire. The children soon embark upon their mission, as described by the mysterious Mr. Benedict. They are to infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, situated on the daunting Nomansan Island, from which messages of distrust of established society and authority, and compliance with the evil Mr. Ledopthra Curtain, are being broadcast directly into the minds of all the world's citizens.

The book delves into such popular kid-book fare as children teaming up to take on evil adults in order to save the world (Harry Potter), and challenges young readers to find and follow the clues to solve the mystery. But the book is also full of literary allusions (reread the mentioned island’s name), and universal adult themes concerning family and abandonment, loyalty and strength of character, facing one's fears, and being brave while doing what’s right.

Though each kid has special talents the first time author, Trenton Lee Stewart, delves into their fears and flaws as well making their interplay an added layer of tension as the adventure unfolds.

An examination of the reasoning behind adult actions (good and bad) and of such contemporary societal concerns as recent politics and economics is well balanced against the adventuresome pursuits of codes and secret messages and signs. Underlying all issues are the mix of the simpler concerns of children (from what and when will they eat to who tells whom what to do) with the required staples of action scenes, dramatic plot twists, and moments of humorous pause.

The MBS’s reading level is about sixth grade and its length would test all but the hardiest of readers, but it is the reading out loud that can so easily capture you. Sitting with your child, taking turns reading, explaining the added literary and adult layers in a manner that adds rather than detracts from the dramatic progression, and jointly taking on the mysteries of detection while reading a well written book, well these are the life moments you and your child will be remembering when they have your grandchildren.