Tag Archives: Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

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The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey was written by Trenton Lee Stewart. This is the second book in his Mysterious Benedict Society series. The main characters of the story are children named Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance. The four friends learn that Mr. Benedict and his adopted daughter, called Number Two, have been taken captive by Mr. Benedict’s evil twin, Mr. Curtain. Mr. Curtain leaves a note explaining that he wants the four children to find a rare plant. After solving a series of riddles, the children find themselves on the fastest ship in the world, headed toward Europe. Kate’s father, Milligan, follows after the children. Milligan protects the children and helps them during their search for Mr. Benedict and Number Two. They encounter many dangerous situations along the way, and they must solve many tricky puzzles to rescue their missing friends.

One of my favorite things about this book is the high adventure experienced by the children. I also really enjoyed the suspense and excitement throughout the story. I liked learning more about the main characters and their development, as well as the many new characters who were introduced in this book. I really enjoyed reading about the four main children who have very different opinions and personalities but are still able to support each other and work together despite these differences. 

This is one of my favorite books. This book was satisfying to read on its own, but it definitely made me want to read the rest of the series. I would recommend reading the first book in the series before reading this book. I would highly recommend the entire series to everyone.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

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The Secret Keepers is a novel by Trenton Lee Stewart.  Stewart is well-known for writing the Mysterious Benedict Society series, but this is a stand-alone book.  The story is about a boy named Reuben who lives alone with his mother.  His mother works multiple jobs just to make ends meet, while Reuben spends much of his time roaming the streets.  One day, Reuben finds a mysterious antique watch.  At first, Reuben plans to sell the watch so that he can provide some financial support for his mother.  However, he soon discovers that the watch has magical powers.  This discovery is exciting, but it also leads to a dangerous series of events.  A villain called “The Smoke” threatens to steal the watch from Reuben.  Reuben finds himself in a race against time to stop The Smoke from executing his sinister plan.

One of my favorites elements of this book is the characters themselves.  They are very interesting and well-developed.  I enjoyed learning about their backgrounds as the story progressed.  I also enjoyed the mystery of this story.  The plot includes many twists and turns, and several surprises.  The magical aspects of the story give it a surreal feeling that I enjoyed very much.  Overall, the book is very engaging throughout, and I often felt anxious to find out what would happen next.

I am a big fan of the Mysterious Benedict Society series, which led me to this book.  Even though this book is based in a different universe, I found it just as enjoyable as the Mysterious Benedict Society books.  The story is highly adventurous and suspenseful.  I would highly recommend this book, especially to anyone who enjoys Stewart’s other books.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart

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nicholas_benedictIf you’ve ever read Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, you will love this one. The prequel, The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, is just as exciting and puzzling as the main series.

This book details the childhood of Nicholas Benedict, who later becomes the “wise and experienced mentor” in the later series. In this book, he’s just nine year old genius orphan. How typical. He arrives at Rothschild’s End Orphanage, a gray and dreary place. Uncompassionate staff and a trio of bullies force him to use wits to survive. Thanks to his narcolepsy, a condition causing random blackouts, he must be locked in his room at night. With a newfound friend, Nicholas overcomes these obstacles and many more with his superior intellect. My personal favorite is how he escaped the confines of his room. After borrowing a spare key, he makes a mold using candle wax, and later shapes a key during metalwork class.

For most of the story, he and his rival, the orphanage director, chase after the Manor’s long lost treasure, which is a lot more exciting than I make it seem. Readers will either love the story for its adventure, or for how Nicholas uses intellect and inventiveness to solve problems. It’s great fun to try and figure out a puzzle before the characters do. Even if we may never be that clever, this book sure makes us feel smart.

As with the rest of the series, this book is written with an eloquent and somewhat old-fashioned style. Nicholas’s sophisticated vocabulary adds to the fact. For me, it didn’t seem as dangerous and intense as the later series. The main antagonist is a trio of schoolyard bullies, while The Mysterious Benedict Society features enemies that would happily kill someone. Still, The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict is an awesome read, and you should read it sometime soon.

-Phillip X., 9th grade

Book Review: The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart

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nicholas_benedictThe Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, a clever and witty book by bestselling author, Trenton Lee Stewart, is a novel that I have read and loved many, many times.  As a prequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society series, also by Trenton Lee Stewart, this book is rated highly.

Little orphaned Nicholas Benedict is nine years old and has never seen or known what love is.  Both of his parents were scientists and died in a lab experiment when he was very young.  He was sent off to live with his aunt, but she also suffered the same fate as his parents.  Ever since that time, he has lived in orphanages.  At the beginning of this story, Nicholas’ loneliness made me think of the song Imagine by John Lennon in a sense that we should imagine what it would be like to live in a place where everyone cared about each other and how nice that would be.

In a small city called Pebbleton, the story begins.  Nicholas is transferred from Littleview to the Manor, or Roschilds’ End.  He has a rare disease called narcolepsy which is where sudden or strong emotions cause him to fall asleep at inconvenient times.  This condition causes him to avoid certain activities because of the risk of falling asleep at the most unfortunate moments.  Because of this, the director requires Nicholas to sleep in his own locked room instead of the boys’ dormitory.  To avoid this, Nicholas engages in creative ruses to distract Mr. Collum, the director.   In one such event, he grabs a bowl of hot, soft wax from the candles that light the hallway.  Hurriedly, he pushes Mr. Collum’s key into the bowl, leaving a perfect imprint behind after pulling the key back up.  He then stays up all night molding the key to be metalized.  Little to his knowledge, this clever boy unwittingly made a skeleton key of the whole estate, including the expansive library in which Nicholas spends all of his free time.  Nicholas makes a friend with a trustworthy boy of the age of twelve named John.  The two then seek out an adventure to find the Roschilds’ missing inheritance.

This ending was both happy and touching.  Trenton Lee Stewart makes the reader feel happy and safe in this story.  At the ending, if this novel was converted into a movie, the song What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong would be perfect.  It fits the ending theme of the book of how, even though not everything may go your way, some things do.  And some of those things are what we come to love in life.

-Maya S., 7th grade

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society, By Trenton Lee Stewart

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mysterious_benedict_coverFour kids,an old professor, his two, slightly quirky assistants, a school for the “gifted” that is run by the professor’s brother, and a diabolical machine that could take over the world– this is just an outline of what happens in The Mysterious Benedict Society written by Trenton Lee Stewart

The story starts out with Reynie Muldoon, an eleven-year-old boy who is gifted with more knowledge than most adults. An advertisement is placed in the newspaper. Reynie, being highly unusual for a child his age, reads the newspaper and happens to read the advertisement:

ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?

Intrigued by the fact that is was addressed to children and not the parents, Reynie decides to answer the ad. In return, he is sent to take a series of test where he meets three other children all very smart and with their own quirks and habits. The four are then sent to a school for the “gifted”  and have to find a diabolical machine that could take over the world before it is too late.

The Mysterious Benedict Society  is a book good for all ages with a cast of characters from young to old. This is a mystery story with child protagonist and a dash of adventure. Each character has their quirks that makes them seem more on the nerdy side but makes them more real to the reader. In this story, there is also the theme that everyone one has a talent or an ability that is needed somewhere. It says that no one is not important.

This is the first of a series of amazing mysteries by Trenton Lee Stewart. If you enjoy mysteries, this is a book for you, though very different from your normal Sherlock Holmes.

-Sarah J., 9th grade