The Mysterious Benedict Society (English)

The orphaned but prodigious Reynie Muldoon responds to a newspaper article seeking "gifted children looking for Special Opportunities." After navigating through a series of elaborate tests (which the reader must also solve), Reynie, along with Sticky Washington, Kate Weatherhill, and Constance Contraire, is inducted into the Mysterious Benedict Society. The four quirky children receive special training by the mysterious Mr. Benedict himself, which they must use to infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.), a school run by the nefarious Mr. Curtain. With traces of E.L. Konigsburg, Blue Balliett, Roald Dahl, and Lemony Snicket, THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY offers a fresh new stage for precocious youngsters to do battle against the forces of evil. With Carson Ellis's bewitching B&W drawings, this is both a 2007 School Library Journal Best Book and a Booklist Editor's Choice. minimize