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The Mysterious Benedict Society
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The Mysterious Benedict Society: Book 1

The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Trenton Lee Stewart (Author), Carson Ellis (Illustrator) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

4 children succeed in some peculiar tests, and are to go on a secret mission. They have to defeat this evil machine, owned by Mr. Curtain, called the Whisperer. The Whisperer has the power to erase your memory and send messages. The kids, Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance spend a few days at... read more

Summary edit see section history

In this book four orphans take a test for gifted children. All of them pass except for one named Constance who is accepted for a special reason. The orphan's names are Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Contance. The orphans are brought to an abandoned house where Mr. Benedict sends the orphans on... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

In this book four orphans take a test for gifted children. All of them pass except for one named Constance who is accepted for a special reason. The orphan's names are Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Contance. The orphans are brought to an abandoned house where Mr. Benedict sends the orphans on mission to stop Mr. Curtain from broadcasting secret messages his school, The Institute of L.I.V.E. The next day they arrive at the Institute to find out it's on an Island. Later that day, the friends go off the paths and stumble into a trap by some boulders. That night they send a secrect report to Mr. Benedict. A few days later Reynie and Sticky were made messengers and they learn lots of information about the Whisperer machine. They discovered that everyone will hear the Whisperer during the Improvement. A couple of days later all the friends find out how to get to Mr. Curtain's office. The friends sneak in and find a lot of important information. The next day Kate sneaks around and finds some information, buts almost gets caught. In the morning Reynie and Sticky are called to Mr. Curtain's office where they have their session with the Whisperer. Kate and Constance race to the tower but run into some trouble. Constance gets into the tower while Kate stuggles down below. She thought the Executives got her when Milligan tranquilized them. Kate got in the tower. All of them stopped Mr. Curtain and damaged the Whisperer. Then Mr. Benedict and his crew came and shut down the Whisperer. Mr. Benedict and his crew plus the children left the island and when they were back at the house everyone found a family.

Characters edit see section history

  • Renyard Muldon: A gifted orphan. Reynie is a good leader, exceptional with solving problems and riddles. He is kindhearted and responsible. He is described as very "average-looking." He is the leader, planner and organizer of the Mysterious Benedict Society. Although "average looking", Reynard is anything but average. His exceptional brain helps the whole team succeed.
  • George "Sticky" Washington: A bald boy with a photographic memory.
  • Constance Contraire: A girl who is extremely bright for her age, yet extremely stubborn. The youngest member of the Mysterious Benedict Society, she loves to make poems, who is 2. Her stubbornness leads the Society to victory. She is constantly contradicting.
  • Mr. Benedict: He has a sleeping condition, narcolepsy, which makes him fall asleep briefly with certain strong emotions. Has 2 adopted daughters, Number Two and Rhonda Kazembe. Is extremely brilliant. He has a long lost twin called Mr. Curtain.
  • Milligan: Works for Mr. Benedict. Has blond hair and blue eyes. He was brainswept by Mr Curtain. Works as a secret agent, master of disguise.
  • Rhonda Kazembe: A short, beautiful African American woman. She is one of Mr. Benedict's closest assistants and daughter. Can remember things almost as well as Sticky. Brilliant.
  • Number Two: A stern, slim woman who is one of Mr. Benedict's closest assistant and adopted daughter. She always wears yellow and has flaming red hair. She is often described as looking like a pencil. Number Two rarely sleeps for Mr. Benedict's protection, and as a result is constantly snacking and eating.
  • Mr. Ledroptha Curtain: Curtain is a very bad man who wants to take over the world. He runs a school called LIVE.
  • Kate Wetherall (a.k.a. The Great Kate Weather Machine): Fast, athletic girl. Her Father abandoned her and she ran away from the orphanage to live at the circus until she heard of Mr. Benedict. She carries around a red bucket filled with things like rope and marbles
  • Jackson: An awful executive working for Mr. Curtain. He has icy blue eyes and red hair. Is Jillson's brother.
  • Jillson: Another nasty Executive working for Mr. Curtain. She is always seen with Jackson, she is his sister. To sum her up, she ties her hair with wire.
  • Martina Crowe: A student at LIVE (Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened). Is rude and mean to the members of the Society due to the threat they show to her Messenger Status (highly coveted position because of "special privileges"). Eventually ends up working for Mr. Curtain.
  • Miss Perumal: Reynie's tutor at the orphanage... she loves Reynie and wants the best for him.
  • Reynard Muldoon: Reynie is an orphan who doesn't know who he's supposed to be. But when an ad in the newspaper for extraordinarily smart kids he tries out and makes it in The Mysterious Benedict Society...
  • S.Q. Pedalian: A very nice and loyal executive who isn't very smart. He is very fond of the members of the Mysterious Benedict Society, but believes that they are the true enemies because of Mr Curtain.
  • Regina: I'm not sure why she's in here...I've read the book 5 times, never heard of a Regina.
  • Corliss Danton: Not in the book. I promise. I've read the book 5 times, Corliss Danton does NOT exist.
  • Mary: Add a description of this character.
  • Bonnie Hedrickson
  • Charlie Peters
  • Harry Harrison
  • Rosie Gardener
  • Mr. Bloomburg
  • Mr. Rutger
  • Kate Wetherall: A member of the Mysterious Benedict Society. Kate is very athletic and spent her early life travelling with the circus. She is known to always have a red bucket dangling from her waist.
  • Kate Wetherall (aka Kate weather machine): A girl who's father abandoned her. Always goes around with a bucket containing stuff like rope and marbles. She can tell the distance of anything just by looking at it.
  • Constance contraire (aka Nothing): She is a girl who passed the test. When she is bored she starts making poems.(often they are negative)
  • Constaince Contraire
Show all 28 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “The gym is always open, except when it's not.”
    Jackson
  • “You must remember, family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family.”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “Oh, here's a clever one. Do you remember this question from the first test? It reads, 'What wrong with this statement?' And do you know what Constance wrote in reply? She wrote, 'What's wrong with you?”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “I'm sorry. I was so nervous, you know. I guess I've misremembered.”
    Sticky
  • “'The Mysterious Benedict Society.' Then she stood up and left.”
    Constance Contraire
  • “'Mr. Benedict, sir, have you read all the books in this house?' Mr. Benedict smiled, glancing fondly at the many books in his study before looking at Reynie again. 'My dear boy,' he said, 'what you do you think?'”
    Reynie, Mr. Benedict
  • “The room was dark only for a few moments, yet when the lamps came back to life, Milligan stood before the children with a pitcher of juice, having appeared out of nowhere. Constance shrieked. The other children jumped. Milligan sighed.”
  • “Remember the White Knight.”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “Now we have waited for thirty consecutive minutes to see some old dirty Executive. Thirty long minutes I could have been sleeping, but SHE doesn't find her appointments worth keeping.”
    Constance Contraire
  • “"... to find a place you must exit to enter..."”
    Reynie Muldoon, recieved in Morse Code
  • “Rules and schools are tools for fools—I don't give two mules for rules!”
    Constance Contraire
  • “Remember, children. For every exit, there is also an entrance.”
    Milligan
  • “No one seems to realize how much we are driven by FEAR, the essential component of human personality. Everything else- from ambition to love to despair- derives in some way from this extremely powerful emotion. Must find the best way to make use of this.”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “Much to my dissapointment, I have concluded that there is no such thing as perfect control. I have come to understand, however, that the illusion of perfect control can amount to the same thing.”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “Whether you always agree is inconsequential, but you must take care of one another, must rely upon one another in all things.”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “'I've always thought that was a funny expression,' Kate said. 'Because how well do people really know the backs of their hands? Honestly, can anyone here tell me exactly what the back of your hand looks like?'”
    Kate Wetherall (a.k.a. The Great Kate Weather Machine)
  • “That's the downside to being a genius - just because you understand something doesn't mean anyone else will.”
    Number Two
  • “Greed often helps people think of reasons they might not discover on their own.”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “Sometimes, Reynie, trouble itself is the key.”
    Mr. Benedict
  • “On a certain level everything sounds like nonsense, doesn't it?”
    Jillson
  • “People are capable of great wickedness, Reynard.”
    Mr. Ledroptha Curtain
  • “Children despise superior minds, you know, especially in leaders, who must often make unpopular decisions.”
    Mr. Ledroptha Curtain
  • “'One problem with being a leader,' Mr. Curtain was saying, 'is that even among your friends you are alone, for it is you - and you alone - to whom the others look for final guidance.”
    Mr. Ledroptha Curtain
  • “Every great thinker keeps a journal, you know.”
    Mr. Ledroptha Curtain
  • “He'd never expected doing the right thing to be so hard. But it was.”
  • “Anyone who knows anything about the human mind understands that it never truly forgets anything. To completely erase memories is impossible. What is possible, however, is hiding memories from their owners.”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “Fears lurk just beneath the surface and are easy to detect.”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “The only way fears truly disappear is if you confront them. But who in the world wishes to confront his or her worst fears?”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “... nothing soothes the mind more effectively than a simple answer to a complicated problem.”
    Ledroptha Curtain
  • “"It said MY BRAIN at the top of the page."”
    George "Sticky" Washington
  • “"Is Constance waving? Can you tell?" Kate peered through her spyglass. "No, just picking her nose. Let's move."”
    Reynie, Kate
  • “"This is too creepy," Sticky said, glancing nervously behind him. "It's like... like...""Like having a strange person whisper in your ear while you sleep?" Mr. Benedict suggested."Okay, that just made it creepier," Sticky said.”
    George "Sticky" Washington, Mr. Benedict
Show all 32 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Around the school

First Sentence edit see section history

"In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing to take an important test."

Table of Contents edit see section history

Pencils, Erasers, and Disqualifications
Buckets and Spectacles
Squares and Arrows
The Trouble with Children Or, Why They Are Necessary
The Sender and the Messages
The Men in the Maze
Codes and Histories
The Thing to Come
The Naming of the Crew
Nomansan Island
Traps and Nonsense
Beware the Gemini
Lessons Learned
People and Places to Be Avoided
Logical Conclusions and Miscalculations
Poison Apples, Poison Worms
A Surprising Suggestion
Tests and Invitations
Everything As It Should Be
Of Families Lost and Found
Tactical Cactupi
Caught in the Act
The Waiting Room
Punishments and Promotions
Half a Riddle
The Whisperer
Open Sesame
Practice Makes Perfect
Know Thine Enemy
A Chess Lesson
The Mouse in the Culvert
Sacrifices, Narrow Escapes, and Something Like a Plan
Bad News and Bad News
Sticky's Discovery
The Great Kate Weather Machine
Stands and Falls
The Best Machine
Escapes and Returns
For Every Exit, an Entrance

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Challenging the norm: Children can be smarter and more helpful than adults. Children don't always need an adult for help. Society isn't always telling us the truth. What we think is right may not be.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 5 in The Mysterious Benedict Society. (standard series)

Followed by The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey.

This is book 8 of 23 in 2010-2011 Iowa Children's Choice Award. (authoritative list)
This book is in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Trenton Lee Stewart (Author)
  2. Carson Ellis (Illustrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Little Brown & Co.
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 9780316057776
Page Count: 485

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

This is full of adventure and kids who love those kinds of books will love it.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • A Wrinkle in Time
  • The Last Olympian
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events (Books 1 to 13)

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