After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. What they find in the hidden labyrinth of the school's underground tunnels is more than your average school supplies.
A sequel, "The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey," is scheduled for May 2008.
After having read too many fantasy books and too many angry foster kid books at one time, it was very refreshing to pick this book up. I've been trying to think of books to compare it to, and I'm having a hard time doing so. In some ways it reminded me a bit of The Westing Game, a book I enjoyed though I have heard opposing opinions from some kids.
On the surface, it seems like so many other fantasy or adventure books. Four children, each with a special talent, are sent to infiltrate a school to stop an evil mastermind from taking over the world (hey! Alex Rider did that in one of the Anthony Horowitz books!) But this is nothing like the Alex Rider series. Nor is it like the Harry Potter series, even though the main character is an orphan, and his friends have different skills or talents and only together can they defeat the evil mastermind determined to take over the world. The book itself is a parody of a certain type of book, though nowhere near as heavy-handed as the Series of Unfortunate Events books. When I try to think of books that it is like, I wind up thinking of more old-fashioned books, like Edgar Eager's Half-Magic or the above-mentioned The Westing Game. It's really hard to describe this book. It's just different. And given that I'm over-saturated on fantasy and other genres right now, different is good.
So what did you think of it? What other books would you compare it to?
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