The Mysterious Benedict Society

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The Mysterious Benedict Society (ISBN 0316057770) is a science fiction novel published by Little, Brown Young Readers in 2007. It was written by Trenton Lee Stewart and illustrated by Carson Ellis.

1 Plot summary
2 Main Characters
3 Trivia
4 Footnotes
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Four children, Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon, George "Sticky" Washington, Kate "The Great Kate Weather Machine" Weatherall, and Constance Contraire, pass a series of tests advertised in the newspaper. After pasing the mind-bending tests, the four children meet Mr. Nicholas Benedict, a man trying to stop something known as "The Thing to Come". Mr. Benedict sends them to The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened , where they meet Ledroptha Curtain, a man trying to take over the world using subliminal messages. Mr. Benedict tells them that they must obtain the high rank of Messengers to get closer to Mr. Curtain. Only Reynie and Sticky manage to become messengers. They learn that Mr. Curtain is sending his messages using a machine he calls the Whisperer. The children carefully spy on Mr. Curtain, finally getting close enough to destroy the Whisperer. However, Mr. Curtain escapes. Mr. Benedict adopts Constance, Sticky finds his parents, Reynie is adopted by his old tutor, Miss Perumal, and Kate finds her father.

[edit] Main Characters

Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon- Reynie was the first character introduced in the book. His way of thinking is looking between the lines, and mainly solves puzzles and other things like that. Reynie resides at Stonetown Orphanage, where he has a tutor, Miss Perumal, to give his gifted mind a challenge. Reynie mainly enjoys reading. He is eleven years old.

George "Sticky" Washington- Sticky was the second main child to be introduced. His way of thinking is much like a textbook or encyclopedia. He remembers everything he reads, so as a result he knows many, many things. He is called "Sticky" for everything sticks in his mind. Sticky ran away from his home after he felt he was not wanted. He mainly enjoys reading, and is eleven.

Kate "The Great Kate Weather Machine" Wetherall- Kate was the third main child introduced. Her way of thinking is finding the shortcuts. Kate always finds the easy way out, or how to get in and out of things without getting caught. Kate became an orphan as a young child, and has made it on her own in the circus. Kate is twelve.

Constance Contraire- Constance was the fourth main character introduced in the book. Constance does not really have a way of thinking. She whines and complains to get her way, but this is explained by her age. However, she is found to be very brave in taking in part of disassembling the Whisperer while putting her life in danger. Not much is known about her past. Constance is three years old.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

On the right side of the dustcover, where the author and illustrator bios are, there is a line of morse code. This spells out Mr. Benedicts name, Nicholas. This was the secret way to find his name, as it is not in the book.
Contary to popular opinion, Reynard/Reynie is not pronounced Rain-erd/Rainy, but Reh-nerd/Reh-nie (such as Leonard/Lenny). ^[1]
Trenton Lee Stewart has gone to Kennedy Middle School (Cupertino, California) and Drauden Point Middle School (Plainfield, Illinois) to talk about the book.
When Trenton Lee Stewart went to Kennedy Middle School (Cupertino, California) he spoke about the book and answered questions that he made up himself. He also signed books and dedicated them to students there. He signed books with a black Sharpie and wrote, "To (Name)... All best, Trenton Lee Stewart" Students could order or purchase the book for USD $17.00 and were among the first people in the world to read the book. Trenton Lee Stewart also left out the word "best" in his signature when he went to Drauden Point Middle School (Plainfield, Illinois). Books at this school were purchased for USD $14.00. The talk lasted from around 1:00 to 2:20.
None of the characters in the book are based off of Trenton Lee Stewart exactly, just a few things that they may have in common with him.
Number Two's name was never revealed.
Jackson and Jillson are named after Jack and Jill from the nursery rhyme. A hidden joke within the book is where Kate drops her bucket on Jackson and Jillson to stop them, and in the rhyme Jack and Jill go to get a bucket of water.

[edit] Footnotes

^ revealed by Trenton Lee Stewart on a visit to Kennedy Middle School (Cupertino, California) on March 5, 2007 to speak about the book.

[edit] References

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

http://learningcommunity202.org/drauden/news.htm The third section of this page has information about the author visit to Drauden Point Middle School (Plainfield, Illinois).