![]() He has a mission for them with the ultimate goal of doing no less than saving the world, from a mind control scheme so devious that only a team of very gifted children (each gifted in his/her own way) can possibly hope to conquer it. They are all parentless-three are orphans, and one is a runaway-and they are brought together through a series of tests by a man named Mr. The Mysterious Benedict Society introduces us to four amazing kids, who will later form the title group: Reynie Muldoon, George "Sticky" Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire. Don't think the puzzles are all the book has to offer, though: It has great characters, a solid plot, and a great deal of humor mixed into a serious story. My nearly-eight-year-old son, who loves puzzles nearly as much as I do, was captivated by this aspect of the book, though my six-year-old daughter less so. The book is chockablock with puzzles of all sorts, which are woven into the story in such a way that the reader/listener is challenged to solve them along with the protagonists. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical about The Mysterious Benedict Society's ability to hold my kids' interest, since it's a longer chapter book than any my wife and I had read with the kids before, and it has next to no illustrations (merely one small one at the beginning of each chapter). ![]() ![]() It is a rare kids' book that is popular despite being over 400 pages long and written by someone other than J.K. ![]()
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