The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” If so, you might belong in Trenton Lee Stewart’s, The Mysterious Benedict Society. The young-adult mystery novel tells the story of four unusually brilliant children (unusual in the sense that their level of intelligence is both uncommon, as

well as unorthodox) who are recruited via a

newspaper ad asking the very question that is cited above. The resulting adventure contains an evil genius attempting to take over the world with subliminal messages, clues that must be found, information that must be decoded, and missions where the avoidance of capture is crucial. Taking place in a town that could be located in any coastal region of any developed country, The Mysterious Benedict Society explores themes of isolation, courage, and education with a consistently didactic tone. While the main characters of the novel are all young children, the dialogue is noticeably advanced. Characters have powerful vocabularies, and make use of fully developed sentences. It is important to note that all four children are characterized as “geniuses”, yet none of them received traditional forms of education at any point. As a result, both the necessity and effectiveness of the currently established means by which children are educated come into question.

Every book that I read contributes in some way to my personality. I believe that the majority of my interests, and opinions were inspired by books. The Mysterious Benedict Society left me with a desire to solve things. I love puzzles, codes, riddles, enigmas, mysteries etc. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to get enough of them. They call for the use of intellectual ability as well as imagination, a combination that can only be beaten by the pairing of chocolate and peanut butter (in my opinion). I think a number of my personal principles were also derived from Stewart’s novel. For instance, I happen to think that one’s intelligence is in no way reflected by academic performance. Perhaps the way unorthodox intelligence was valued in the novel instilled that particular opinion in me. I’ve also thought for a very long time that the way schools approach education is fundamentally flawed, and caters to the concept that intelligence is conveyed through high test scores. An opinion which happens to coincide with the underlying messages of The Mysterious Benedict Society. I consider myself lucky to have been influenced by this particular story, and I always hope that it will affect future readers in the same way it has affected me.