The Mysterious Benedict Society

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The Mysterious Benedict Society
Author Trenton Lee Stewart
Cover artist Carson Ellis
Language English
Genre(s) Children's Science fiction
Publisher Little, Brown
Publication date 2007
Pages 485 pgs.
ISBN ISBN 9780316057776
Followed by The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a novel published by Little, Brown Young Readers in 2007. It is generally identified as being science fiction novel, though some libraries classify it instead as an adventure novel. It was written by Trenton Lee Stewart and illustrated by Carson Ellis. It is also available on an unabridged audiobook read by Del Roy. A sequel to the book was released in 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Four children, Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon, George "Sticky" Washington, Kate "The Great Kate Weather Machine" Wetherall, and Constance Contraire, pass a series of tests advertised in the newspaper. After passing the mind-bending tests, the four children meet Mr. Nicholas Benedict, a man trying to stop something known as "The Thing to Come". Mr. Benedict sends them to The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (LIVE), where they meet Ledroptha Curtain, a man trying to take over the world using subliminal messages.

The group finds out that they must obtain the high rank of Messengers to get closer to Mr. Curtain. Only Reynie and Sticky manage to become Messengers. They learn that Mr. Curtain is sending his messages using a machine he calls the Whisperer. The children carefully spy on Mr. Curtain, finally getting close enough to destroy the Whisperer. However, Mr. Curtain escapes. Mr. Benedict adopts Constance, Sticky finds his parents, Reynie is adopted by his old tutor, Miss Perumal, and Kate finds her father, or rather, he finds her.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon- Reynie, an orphan, is the first character introduced in the book. His way of thinking is looking between the lines, observing and questioning, and gets past most obstacles by finding the "puzzle" within the situation. Reynie resides at Stonetown Orphanage, where he has a tutor, Miss Perumal, to give his gifted mind a challenge. Reynie mainly enjoys reading, having never taken well to the television, radio, or playing with the other children of the orphanage. He is eleven years old. He is extraordinarily bright and is being taught languages other than English by Miss Perumal, such as Tamil. Reynie's name is properly pronounced "rennie". He is an especially average-looking boy with average brown hair, average pale complexion, average clothes, and average height. In fact, this "average-ness" helps him make a narrow escape at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened.

George "Sticky" Washington- Sticky is the second main child to be introduced. His way of thinking is much like a textbook or encyclopedia. He remembers everything he reads, so as a result he knows many, many things. He is called "Sticky" for everything sticks in his mind. He strongly prefers "Sticky" to his given name of "George Washington". Sticky ran away from his home after he felt he was not wanted. He mainly enjoys reading, and is eleven years old. He has tea colored skin and is bald because of using hair remover for a disguise. Sticky also has a bad habit of polishing his spectacles whenever he gets nervous.

Kate "The Great Kate Weather Machine" Wetherall- Kate is the third main child introduced. Her way of thinking is finding any and all shortcuts in a conflict. Kate always finds the easy way out, or how to get in and out of things without getting caught. Kate became an orphan as a young child, when her mom died, and her father ran away (that's what she thinks). She has made it on her own in the circus. Kate is twelve, but is said to look much older, around fourteen. She carries a red metal bucket everywhere, which houses a spyglass (disguised as a kaleidescope), a Swiss Army Knife, a rope, a flashlight, extra-strength glue, a bag of marbles, a slingshot, a pen light, a spool of clear fishing twine, and a horseshoe magnet. She is very physically capable and fearless, often rushing into things without giving them a second thought. She has long, golden-blonde hair and light blue eyes. Kate would like to be called "The Great Kate Weather Machine", but none of the other members of the society want to call her that, as they claim that it will take too long to say.

Later on in the story she finds out that she is the daughter of Mr. Benedict's bodyguard, Milligan.

Constance Contraire- Constance is the fourth main character introduced in the book. Constance does not really have a way of thinking, other than that she wants things to be her way. However, her qualities of bravery and stubbornness ultimately prove to a be great asset. Not much is known about her past. She has wispy blonde hair and very clear blue eyes. One of her repeated pet peevesduring the book is when Kate calls her "Connie".

Constance is 2 years and 11 months old at the end of the book, so at the beginning she was most likely 2 years and 5 months old. This fact is not mentioned until the very end of the novel, leaving the other members of The Mysterious Benedict Society at a loss to explain her often odd behavior -- such as regularly dropping off for long naps and taking obstinate positions seemingly only out of spite. This also explains why she is so stubborn. When Ledroptha Curtain increases the strength of his Whisperer, she is the only member of the group who hears whispering voices in her head because she has the most powerful love of truth out of the whole group.

Nicholas Benedict- Mr. Benedict is a middle-aged man who started the Mysterious Benedict Society. He is the one who discovered the plans of his twin brother, Ledroptha Curtain. However, none of colleagues believed him and called him crazy. Mr. Benedict suffers from narcolepsy, which causes him to fall asleep when experiencing strong emotions (usually laughter).

Mr. Benedict's first name is never mentioned within the text of the novel. It is revealed in morse code on the inside of the book jacket for the hardcover edition, and on the back cover for the paperback edition.

Ledroptha Curtain- Mr. Curtain is the man who started sending out subliminal messages from the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened towards phone and televisions to take over the world. However, Mr. Curtain wears silver glasses and green plaid suits, and usually makes his way around the Institute in a motorized wheelchair. Mr. Curtain is revealed to be Benedict's twin, explaining their identical appearance, but their behavior is quite opposite of each other. Mr. Curtain also suffers from narcolepsy, but his condition is triggered by anger as opposed to laughter.

[edit] Minor Characters

Messengers

Messengers are the ones who help make sure that everyone follows the rules of the school. They reach this status by getting good grades. They also receive time in The Whisperer.

Notable Messengers:

  • Martina Crowe
  • Corliss Danton
  • Silvie Biggs
  • Reynie (promoted during book)
  • Sticky (promoted during book)

[edit] Executives

When messengers grow too old to filter Mr. Curtain's messages, they become Executives. Messengers must be children or the messages won't be able to transmit undetected into people's brains. Executives help Mr. Curtain with his plan to take over the world, and they become very close.

Notable Executives:

  • Jackson
  • Jillson (Jackson and Jillson are named after the characters in the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill". Their names are a pun because Kate ends up dropping her bucket on them to escape in reference to the nursery rhyme.)
  • Martina♦
  • SQ Pedalian. His name is a double play on words, as "sesquipedalian" means given to the use of long words, which is the opposite of SQ's limited command of the English language. Also, "pedalian" means having to do with the feet, and SQ sports very large feet. SQ is generally regarded as the kindest of the Executives and does not generally obey the overtly cruel behavior seen in others that hold the position. He is also sometimes known to be a bit "slow," though he is kept on seemingly for Mr. Curtain's amusement.

♦Martina used to be a Messenger, but was promoted to Executive Status.

[edit] Recruiters

Recruiters find and kidnap children to go to the doggy kennel. The four main characters were once confronted by two recruiters to be forced into the Institute.

[edit] Helpers

Helpers are found, then put under the Whisperer to help them forget past memories. They do the chores around the Institute. Their moods are affected by the memory loss, they become severely depressed.

[edit] Those who Help Mr. Benedict

Number Two- Number Two is the first person to pass Mr. Benedict's tests, but since she was the only one to pass the tests while she was a child she was never able to actually perform the task of infiltrating the Institute. She became Mr. Benedict's assistant, and it is later revealed that she is his adopted daughter. She never sleeps, and as such needs a high food intake. Her name is never revealed.

Rhonda Kazembe- Rhonda also passed Mr. Benedict's tests, but after Number Two. Number Two claimed that she was the most talented person to ever take the tests. Rhonda is also Mr. Benedict's adopted daughter. She is originally from the country of Zambia.

Milligan- Milligan was a captured spy, and was to be a Helper, though he managed to escape. He lost his memories of his past life, and he always seems to be sad because of it. However, he regains his memories, and turns out to be Kate's father, he had dubbed himself Milligan because his last promise to Kate was to take her to the "Mill again". Like Number Two and Rhonda, he helps Mr. Benedict accomplish his plans.

[edit] Miss Perumal

Miss Perumal is Reynie's tutor. She is very intelligent, and becomes close to Reynie. Eventually, she decides to adopt Reynie. She can speak Tamil.

[edit] Mr. Rutger

Mr. Rutger is the head of Stonetown Orphanage, the orphanage in which Reynie was placed. He has a strict policy about the orphans attending a school for he gets money for every orphan he has.

[edit] Mr. and Mrs. Washington

Mr. and Mrs. Washington are Sticky's parents. After they discovered Sticky's intelligence, they entered him in a wide variety of quiz shows. However, Sticky felt that his parents cared more about the money he won rather than him, so he ran away. When they started searching, many people gave the Washington many gifts, and large sums of money. Despite the sudden riches, they were ashamed of their mistake, and tried very, very hard to find him, and eventually, they found him. During the search, their minds began resisting the messages because of their love of Sticky.

[edit] Reception

The Mysterious Benedict Society was generally well-received by both readers and critics. It was a New York Times bestsller and selected as an ALA Notable Book and Top Ten Children's Book Sense Pick. It received favorable reviews from Booklist, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, with comparisons to the style of authors such as Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket. On Amazon.com, it has received over 50 reviews as of 2008, with an average rating of 4 1/2 stars and only two ratings under 3 stars.

[edit] Sequel

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey is the sequel to the first novel. This novel reunited the group and provided additional adventures.

[edit] Footnotes


[edit] References

[edit] External links