The Mysterious Benedict Society has been on our bookshelf for several years. Rob was actually the one who wanted to read it, even though it is a kid’s book. I beat him to it, but I can certainly see why he wanted to read it now that I finished it. From what I can tell, there are at least 2 more Benedict Society books. I will tell you truthfully that I will not be reading those. It’s not that the The Mysterious Benedict Society wasn’t a good read, because it was, I just don’t feel compelled to read any more books about these characters.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of the themes of this novel, too. First, there’s the idea of Gifted Children. I won’t get on my soapbox, but I will say that a certain school system could take a lesson from Mr. Benedict. He placed an advertisement in the paper asking, “Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” and many, many, many children and their parents responded to the add. Four children passed his series of tests. Four. Those children were truly gifted, not just smart kids who test well and who are given work sample after work sample in hopes that one of those samples would show giftedness. In the aforementioned school system, way more than 4 kids would have been accepted into Mr. Benedict’s program. Sad, but true. So, this book made me think a lot about giftedness. Sticky, Reynie, Kate, and Constance were amazingly gifted children. They are gifted like kids were 17 years ago when I started teaching: they have a different perspective on the world, they think differently, and they are a little quirky. They could truly save the world, and did. They were very believable.
These children are also alone in the world. Each one is either a runaway or an orphan. Theme number two: children who have been abandoned and feel as though adults have let them down. They are loving children, but skeptical, and just want to find a place where they belong. Now, in order for the plot of this book to work, I think the 4 main characters had to be alone, otherwise, they wouldn’t be so inclined to leave their home to fight for a mysterious cause as alluded to by Mr. Benedict. These 4 kids had nothing to lose, nothing to keep them at home, they went to “fight” because…well, why wouldn’t they?
Then there’s the political/all-powerful government theme. I doubt that children who read this book will even think of this, but I sure did. To a child, I think the idea of smart kids serving as spies to solve a mystery is probably the only aspect of the plot that they might focus upon. On the other hand, I felt overwhelmed by the scariness of Mr. Comfort’s plan to “Mindsweep” the population so that everyone’s memories would be erased, while sending messages directly into people’s brains through the television and radio that no one knew were being submitted, in an effort to erase fear and to make everyone happy. He never planned to actually tell anyone about this, nor did he plan to ask if anyone wanted this done. He did this to governmental officials, too, that he recruited to help with mindsweeping. That is scary stuff.
So, aside from being irritated with the gifted process and being scared to death that when I watch Dance Moms or Glee that someone is sending hidden messages into my brain which will erase my memories, I didn’t take anything away from this book that impacted me personally. I think this is why I won’t be reading any more Benedict Society books. I need to take something from my reading, or it is purposeless to me.
It was a good book and even though it was 485 pages, I was able to read it in only a few days. I think upper elementary and middle school aged kids would like it, too. It’s action packed, involves spies and bad guys, and has a picture or two. That’s a recipe for success for a kid book.
Happy Reading!
J Dodie
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