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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Book Review- The Mysterious Benedict Society

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" That's the question asked by a strange ad in the newspaper. Many children respond, and they take a series of increasingly difficult and confusing tests. Only four children succeed, and they find that they were gathered together for a very important purpose: to go on a secret mission that will require every last bit of their intelligence, resourcefulness, and courage. They must stick together to face impossible odds and thwart the evil scheme of a genius who has been manipulating people for years. With the future of the world depending on them, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?

(Okay, so that was more of a synopsis than a review. But don't worry, I am going to actually review the book.)
One of the things I really like about this book is the way the characters are portrayed, and the way they change throughout the story. The four children start off as fairly normal (apart from being gifted, of course), but as they face different challenges, they develop incredible strength of character. Each of them starts off with their own fears (for example, loneliness) and weaknesses (for example, nervousness), but they are forced to overcome these in order to succeed. The group also learns the importance of teamwork, and they find out that every person is essential to the mission, no matter how unhelpful they might seem.

I also really like the way this book tested my wits. Just as the children were trying to find the answers to the test questions and discover just what their enemy was up to, I too got to follow along and think about how to solve their problems. This book is really interesting, and it was nice to read something that not only kept my attention, but had me engaged as well.

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