Book Review - The Mysterious Benedict Society (spoilers included)

The Mysterious Benedict Society - by Trenton Lee Stewart

Published in 2008

Read aloud to the 9yo

The Good

None of the children are necessarily geniuses in the standard understanding of the word; they all feel left out of society and misunderstood because they simply have strengths and weaknesses that are unappreciated.  I think that in our society where children are so heavily encouraged to conform with certain agreed upon standards of interests, behavior, etc., that this would appeal to those who fall outside the range of 'acceptable'.  Kate, for instance, is a girl who is very skilled in using tools and in physical feats of speed and agility.  That's not the sort of intelligence encouraged and applauded in girls as a general rule and Kate finds a home with the Society.  Parents are conspicuously absent but the novel focuses a lot on 'building your own family', which is a very positive message.  All of the children do end up with a parental type figure by the end of the first book - Kate's long lost father returns and they are reunited, Reynie and Constance are adopted and Sticky (who ran away) and his parents find each other and become a family again.  Of the four families, three are single parents, two of those single parent families are fathers instead of mothers, and two are adoptive.  One of the adoptive families is interracial.  It's a nice eclectic mix that isn't a part of the storyline to a great degree but is mentioned and I like the diversity.

The Bad

Sticky runs away from his parents because he thinks they are trying to use his photographic memory to make money.  Constance is very crabby.  I actually found parts of the story quite tense and nerve-wracking so a sensitive child might feel the same way.

My Thoughts

I really loved this story, and so did my 9yo son, who often begged for another chapter.  The characters were compelling and very realistic, which was excellent, but also tense at times.  The villains were especially villainous, although they didn't actually DO as many awful things as your imagination told you they would.  The build up of suspense was always very well done, and there was a lot of 'the good guy almost gets caught but doesn't' moments that helped rile you up.  Good succeeds in the end, and some mysteries are solved that you didn't even realize were mysteries.  (Why WAS Constance so tired all the time?)  The good guys win in the end, but...not entirely, because the head of the evil organization escapes with some of his lackeys, which adds to the realism.  That being said, this is all happening in a very different world - not one we would be entirely familiar with, although it contains elements of our own existence.  It is both strangely old-fashioned and at the same time, oddly modern.  Much like a steampunk esthetic can be, is the best way I could explain it.  Very...odd.  And delightful.  Utterly delightful.