Apr 02 2009
Book review: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
It’s been a good week for reading. Yesterday, I finished both Sea Changes by Gail Graham and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart. I read the latter aloud to my kids; we adored the first book in the series and were very excited to read the continuing adventures of Reynie Muldoon, Kate Wetherall, Sticky Washington, and Constance Contraire.
It’s been a few months since the events at the end of The Mysterious Benedict Society. All four of the children are now happily settled into families: Kate has been reunited with her father, Milligan; Reynie’s beloved tutor Miss Perumal has adopted him; Sticky has been reunited with his loving parents; and Constance is being adopted by Mr. Benedict. The three older children are all headed back to Stonetown, to Mr. Benedict’s house, to join up with Constance and receive a surprise that Mr. Benedict has been planning for them.
They arrive at the house to find things in an uproar. Mr. Benedict and Number Two had left on a journey to prepare a surprise expedition for the children, and were kidnapped by the nefarious Mr. Curtain. Rhonda Kazembe had tried to send word to the children not to come to the house, but they left before the telegram reached them.
Milligan is off on a mission, and no one else knows where Mr. Benedict and Number Two have gone. The only clues are the ones they left in a travel diary for the children, and the children with their unique gifts are the only ones equipped to interpret the clues. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance decide that they are the ones who have to go search for Mr. Benedict and Number Two, and rescue them from Mr. Curtain.
In the first book, the children are all without familial ties, so it is easier to accept the idea of them going on a dangerous undercover mission to The Institute. Now that they are all in families, their mission to rescue Mr. Benedict requires deceiving the adults in their lives. Their decision to do so is understandable, but some parents may take issue with this plot point.
One of the best things about this series is the way Stewart grows the characters throughout the story. Although all four children are equally involved in the adventure, Reynie is really the main character. Reynie has been disillusioned with humanity after the experiences at The Institute. During this next adventure, Reynie learns that sometimes you simply have to trust people to do the right thing - and that there are a lot of good-hearted people in the world. Stewart isn’t preachy; the reader simply learns along with Reynie as he experiences his adventure.
The kids and I all enjoyed this book, though it didn’t prove as engrossing as the first one. When we read the first book in the series, we read for a couple hours the last day, putting off our school work, so that we could finish it and find out what happened. The sequel didn’t bring about the same feeling of not wanting to stop reading, although the ending was still very satisfying - and definitely left the door open for the continuing adventures of these four wonderful children.
4 out of 5 stars























Sandy - it’s a series all kids will love, I think.
Kathy - That would be hard! Since I homeschool, I plan on keeping read-aloud time alive as long as possible.
Jess - you’re welcome!
Ladytink - they’re really fun - I would have loved them as a kid.
Lawanda - me, too!
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