#112 The Mysterious Benedict Society

We first meet Reynie, an eleven year old boy who is orphaned, and has always felt a little "different". He sees a newspaper article seeking children with special gifts and decides to take the test. Many other children are there to begin with, and all of the questions seem impossible, but somehow Reynie is able to figure out every question and move on to the next part.

Reynie finds out that not very many children are able to pass, and soon he meets up with the only other children who do: Georgie "Sticky" Washington, Kate Wetherall and Constance Contraire. Each has their own special gift, and the four realize they must depend on eachother as they enter The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. The principal, the evil Mr. Curtain, has learned to send subliminal messages to children through his terrible machine, the Whisperer, and is determined to control not only the students at the Institute, but throughout the world.

So Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance become spies in the Institute. They snoop around, trying to avoid the Executives while learning as much as they can. They communicate with Mr. Benedict through Morse Code, and the excitement builds as they realize Mr. Curtain is getting closer and closer to his goal.

I really enjoyed reading this book! I especially loved the peculiarities of each character. You can visit the website all about the books and their author here: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/mysteriousbenedictsociety/index.html. The website is a blast all by itself (very similar to Roald Dahl's site I thought), and the videos and games are really funny. There are also two other Benedict Society books to read once you've finished the first. Check them out!