The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, 1)

I'm an adult and had a blast reading this one. It feels like Harry Potter, without the magic. A group of kids head into a special school as spies and unravel a deadly mystery/evil plot. Characters are adorable, story is very satisfying. It's a big book, but I'd recommend it for ANYONE ages 8 and up, if they can handle it. It's a wonderful read, and the content is clean! No excessive violence, no language or sex. Just a fantastic kid book that's perfect for all ages~

Wow! Trenton Lee Stewart has a serious talent. I think it is a rare book that has both an amazing, creative, original plot and amazing writing as well. Stewart's sentences are a thing of beauty! My 7-year-old and I like to read books together. This is a fantastic choice to read aloud because the words flow off the tongue like poetry and effortlessly create well-developed scenes in your head. I have read books with "big" words before that feel like the author overused a thesaurus in an attempt to shove some "class" into the story. The results are awkward at best. This book is anything but awkward; the flow is pure magic.I loved not only the way Stewart wrote but what he wrote as well. This was a great book to use to teach about sarcasism and sardonicism. After reading a passage, I often stopped and my daughter and I would discuss it. We also discussed the title. I asked her if she thought the word "mysterious" was modifying Benedict or Society, how the answer to that changed the meaning significantly, and how the lack of a comma gave us the author's answer. Such fun! This book is also fabulous for making inferences and predictions. Early on we made one wild prediction that we found was correct at the end of the chapter "Stands and Falls." My daughter and I jumped up and did a happy dance all over the house at finding we were correct about what initially seemed a rather far-fetched guess! We also enjoyed looking up Morse code and sending secret messages to each other! My daughter loves crafts also so we decided to make necklaces of our names using round beads and bar beads!As an adult, my favorite passage in the book was:...In certain ways, the Institute did remind them of other schools: Rote memorization of lessons was discouraged but required; class participation was encouraged but only rarely permitted; and although quizzes were given every day, in every class, there was always at least one student who groaned, another who acted surprised, and another who begged the teacher, in vain, not to give it.My daughter did not seem to share my utter delight in the passage and was definitely baffled when I had to stop in the middle of reading to text a picture of it to my mom!! This is definitely a fun book for adults as well!Altogether great learning completely disguised as great fun! Can you ask for anything more?

My son was assigned this book as summer reading rising to 6th grade. I try to either read books aloud with my kids, or read them simultaneously so we can talk together about what we've read. I should also reveal that I am a 4th grade teacher and embarrassed to say I had not yet read this, though it is in my classroom library and some of my more advanced readers have said that they love this book.I completed this book in two summer afternoons while stuck at home sick. And I didn't want to put it down. The characters are rich and the action is a fun romp through dangerous waters. It's really important to remember for whom this book was written -- instead of the knee-jerk adult analyses (too long, disappointing ending, blah blah blah) this book speaks beautifully well to 'tweens and their hopes and fears about fitting in, being "normal", being nerdy, the possibility of being a hero, etc. Do you REMEMBER what this stage of life felt like sometimes??! The author has masterfully spoken to the 9 - 12 year old reader: You are smart, you have unique talents and gifts, you CAN change the world, AND family are the folks who love and stick with you (blood relations or not).Is the book perfect? Nope. Is the book a great read? Yup. Is the book written for a 40+-year-old bibliophile teacher? Of course not, but I love the book and so does my son.I hope the author knows what an impressive job he did writing to his intended audience.

I haven’t read this since middle school and went down memory lane and reread it at 26 and honestly love it just as much as I did back then! I burned through it in 2 days. So well written and engaging and fun! Would recommend it for any age!

I loved this book because it had great details and an awesome plot twists. I would recommend reading this book for third and above, due to the great vocabulary.

My seven and nine year olds loved this book. It was a perfect mix of mystery, suspense, action, and humor. We can't wait to start the next one.

These kids may be too young to drive speedy cars, use dangerous gadgets and do death defying stunts but they’re not too young to go on a mission to stop the bad guy.We first meet Reynie, a nice orphan who sees a great opportunity for kids like him in the newspaper: a series of mind bending tests. He manages to pass the tests and is acquainted by others who did too: awkward Sticky, rambunctious Kate and short know-it-all Constance. They all meet the man responsible for the strange tests, oddball genius Mr. Benedict, who has chosen them to go on a mission to find out who’s behind the series of kidnappings that’s baffled even local law enforcement and must work and get along together and use their unique skills.A charming and intriguing adventure with an eccentric personality. Its lore, characters and group of kids have that feel that reminded me of Snicket’s “ASOUE” series, including their problem solving skills. My favorite moments included how we see Reynie and his new friends work together and eventually bonding into a great team. It ends well while showing that their adventure is turning into something new but also that it’s only begun. A compelling charmer. <b>A (100%/Outstanding)</b>

Enjoyed the story - it’s pacing and fun twists. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Loved it.

One of the best series I have ever read. It is full of puzzles (try to solve them before the characters do), adventure and is very fast-paced.

I read this book along-side my 11-year-old (he was reading it for a school project). The story is quite good and gets kids hooked, and it isn’t too complicated, so they just keep reading. Will buy the sequel!

Interesante libro y de buena calidad

The book is quite big and it is a bit difficult to finish it but the story is interesting and original !