Loved it! ( )

Charming. I enjoyed the puzzles and the stylistic nod to the books I read as a child. Some of the key messages (like interdependence) are necessary and well-wrought. There's something missing from the pacing or development that I can't quite pinpoint. I'd buy it for my nephew, for sure, but it's not at the top of the list. ( )

Read this ages ago back in high school (middle school?) and loved it. In the middle of rereading it so I can get through the rest of the series! Never too late haha ( )

Edge-of-the-seat, stay-up-way-past-bedtime reading. Very long. But very clever.

Would make a thrilling TV series. ( )

The Mysterious Benedict Society starts with an eleven-year-old boy named Raynard 'Reynie' Muldoon, who goes to take a test at a place called the Monk Building in Stonetown, the small city where he is a resident of the Stonetown Orphanage. Reynie is one of the four children to pass the mysterious tests. The others are George 'Sticky' Washington and Kate Wetherall. Reynie is very observant. Sticky (which he prefers to be called), has a remarkable memory. Facts just seem to stick in his head. Kate is very resourceful and acrobatic. Her bucket of helpful tools is a must-have. The years she spent in a circus haven't hurt her. Constance Contraire is very skeptical and contrary.

After the four children have passed all of the tests, each in a different way, they learn that a Mr. Nicholas Benedict needs a team of children. Two of his helpers already passed his tests years ago, but this is the first time enough children to form a team have passed at the same time. The children will need to combat the work of a mysterious person or group that sends harmful messages. in an unusual way. Call this person or group 'the Sender'.

The children must infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. It is a potentially very dangerous mission.

NOTES:

Chapter Codes and Histories: We learn Milligan's back story.

Chapter Nomansan Island:

a. The name is a play on a famous poem by John Donne, 'No Man is an Island".

b. Reynie's cover story is true. The other three are supposed to be from Binnud Academy.

c. Most executives at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened are former students. They wear a blue tunic and sash with white pants. Messengers are top students with special privileges. Their uniform is the same as those worn by executives except they have striped pants.

Chapter Traps and Nonsense gives us the layout of the institute.

Chapter Beware the Gemini:

a. We meet the institute founder, Mr. Ledroptha Curtain.

b. Sticky is a Capricorn. Kate is a Taurus.

The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened is not a very comfortable place to go to school, as our young heroes soon learn. Some of the students appear confused, but happy later. There are Messengers and Executives to deal with as well as the Helpers and the guards.

Sticky and Reynie, who are roommates, are getting perfect scores on their quizzes, thanks to their special abilities. Will they be chosen to be Messengers? If so, will it be their minds that get messed with? As they send and receive secret messages with Mr. Benedict, the peril grows. ( )