The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

This was an engaging read aloud book for my young teen and pre teen kids. It celebrates the values of friendship and working together in a fast paced story with strong characters- and a sense of humor!

Love these books! Gave as a gift.Entertaining for young people and adults.

After reading The Mysterious Benedict Society my eight year old son and I were too anxious to get this second book to wait for it to come in the mail, so we downloaded it onto the Kindle and got started reading before the hardback arrived. We read a couple of chapters before bedtime every evening. I'm a librarian and I like to make this time special by finding books that are fun and exciting, but also of a high enough quality to be thought provoking and to spark meaningful interaction between myself and my son. The Benedict Society books are just the ticket. The children's characters are carefully constructed so that they represent specific types that readers can either identify with, or recognize from their own experience. Their problems and concerns are realistic and believable enough to create empathy in young readers, which thereby allows them to better understand themselves and others. The word puzzles and clues are fun, but not so difficult that the average kid can't figure some of them out before the answers are figured out by the characters. Not all eight year olds could read these books themselves, but the language is accessible to most children older than six if the reader is patient enough to stop and explain occasionally. Overall, for children interested in adventure, this is a pretty sure thing.

I likes the storyline and the kids descriptions.text just too small ,kept losing interest. rated 4 stars because I liked yhe story.

My 9 year old loved the first book and is on the second. Can really help to build a lifetime love of reading in your child too!

Our 8 yo son loves this series. He finished all the Harry Potter books and we were looking for something of similar length and style for him to get into. He loves them! The language is a bit more advanced than Harry Potter, but it feels like the appropriate next step for him and he's learning lots of new words. Very mysterious, indeed!

The Mysterious Benedict Society, a group of four children created to thwart the plans of the evil genius Ledroptha Curtain, is fresh off their great victory. The "brainswept" are slowly having their memories returned and everything seems like it should be getting back to normal. It should be the perfect happy ending, yet happy endings are rarely so simple...All is not well for the Mysterious Benedict Society. Reynie, still shaken by the previous adventures, finds himself having nightmares of being surrounded by snakes. A conversation with Mr. Benedict did little to ease his growing fears that wickedness is something to be generally expected of people. Kate has been living largely on her own wits for the past six months (Milligan largely off doing secret agent work) and Sticky has had trouble convincing his parents that he should be allowed to go to college. As for three-year-old Constance, she continues to struggle with being a young child genius, while the government refuses to even properly acknowledge her existence so she can be adopted by Mr. Benedict.The group comes together again with the promise of experiencing a great surprise created by Mr. Benedict, but then learns something horrifying. Both Benedict and Number Two have captured by Curtain and his minions -- now going by the name "the Ten Man" -- for the ten different ways they have of torturing people. The only solution may be to follow through with Mr. Benedict's surprise -- an adventure he planned for them that may now be their only way to save him. So, once again, danger and thrills are promised, but also a great read and satisyfing adventure.The book jacket states that the author, Trenton Lee Stewart, is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. If his works are any indication, then they may just have something special there. The jacket also offers a review comparing the style to that of Lemony Snicket -- but I never could quite bring myself to fully enjoy Snicket's mode of writing. This book, however, has been the most anticipated for me since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I'm delighted to say that it satisfies. Pick up a copy for yourself and find out what adventures are in store for this intrepid quartet.

I have an avid 6-year old reader and we were really struggling to find books that challenge him but don't delve into inappropriate (for a 6-year old) themes/topics. The Mysterious Benedict Society books are a great fit! I think they are also a good wholesome read for children of all ages (see some of the other reviewers are teens)--heck, I've enjoyed them! There are some mild thematic and suspense elements, but it was never too much. ...but that is not to say that they are dull and unexciting; Steward depends mainly on mystery and character development to keep things moving. The stories also encourage admirable qualities like loyalty, friendship, selflessness, working hard, respect for elders, etc.My son got a little bogged down in the middle of the first and second books, but reading along with him and discussing with him got him right back on track. The third book in the series he charged right through in just a few days. I think this author is just getting better and better with each novel he writes (we just finished the 3rd in the series).Another great aspect of these books is the really great vocabulary! I love the kindle version because we could just click on the words to get definitions. Stewart also uses a lot of context clues that help kids understand the gist without knowing the dictionary definition.These are the first novels my son has read and I think they are a great intro to fiction for kids who don't like the suspended disbelief aspects of the fairy tale genre. There are unrealistic elements, but they are couched in an ordinary setting--I'm hoping this will be a baby step toward some of my favorites like C. S. Lewis' books which have been a little too "out there" (talking animals and such) for him thus far. :)

I’m reading this series aloud to my 9 year old. He begs me to keep reading. We love the unique characters and how they have grown into a loving family. The ongoing puzzles within the story keep us guessing. Couldn’t wait to get the second book in the mail! It’s in great shape. Thank you.

Excelente

The book is very good. At first, I had got a book with chapters in it from another book in the series, but the seller was very helpful and ensured that I got the correct book

I like how the storie contuniues and you do not know what is going to happen next. If you liked the mysterious benedict society you will love this sequel. I am surprizedd it has not got any awards

面白さと意外性に富んだ第１作目に比べると、意外性は少し劣りますが、思わずページをめくってしまう面白さは同じです。　最初の出会いから１年後、それぞれの落ち着き先で、家族あるいは家族になった人たちと平安に生活していた４人でしたが、ベネディクトの家に集まることになりました。(ただしコンスタンスはベネディクトと一緒に住んでいる)　家に着いた４人は、ベネディクトとナンバー2が誘拐されたことを知り、警察官の目をかいくぐり、ベネディクトの残した手掛かりを頼りに、救助のため旅に出かけるお話です。　誘拐された人の残したヒントを追いかけることが、なぜ救出につながるのか不思議でしたが、最後まで読めば理由が分かります。ただし、そのことを知らない子供たちが、ヒントにしたがって旅をするという設定は、少しおかしいと思いました。ただし、そんなことよりも話の面白さに引き込まれました。英文も平易で、気楽に読める１冊です。 後日この小説のオーディオブックを買いましたが、非常に聞き取りにくかったので、買わないことをお勧めします。