Publisher and Publication Date: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2008.
Genre: Young adult fiction.
Pages: 497.
Format: E-book.
Source: Library e-book.
Audience: Young adult to adult readers.
Rating: Very good.

This is book one in The Mysterious Benedict Society. There is a total of 4 in the series plus an extra book.

Goodreads’ author page for Trenton Lee Stewart.

Summary:

A boy named Reynie Muldoon (age 11) lives in a city named Stonetown, and near a port called Stonetown Harbor.

When the story begins, he is encouraged to take a test that has been advertised in a newspaper. There are several sessions in this test.

While at the appointments for the tests he meets other kids who are also taking tests. Only a few will be chosen as winners. A friendship and bond develop.

The tests are a mix of aptitude, mental, and physical strengths.

Later, they will work together to solve mysteries as secret agents.

My Thoughts:

Reynie is a kid that is easy to like. All the kids are likable because I have empathy for their lives. There are also the kids who usually go unnoticed. They are the kids who don’t come from the affluent or popular groups. I love this. They are seemingly ordinary young people with extraordinary character and wit and intelligence.

I love how the kid’s bond. I love how the story develops from their introductions to the working as agents and how they depend on one another. They become a family-not of blood-but one of trust, devotion, encouragement, and time spent together. They also seem to accept one another as they are not who they wished the other would be.

I love Mr. Benedict. He has a wonderful heart.