Dear Trenton Lee Stewart and Diana Sudyka,

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey – Trenton Lee Stewart – 464 pages

“The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search–a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids’ adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain. With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all–a challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and will require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.”  – Little, Brown Kids website

I was completely delighted by the original Mysterious Benedict Society, and I’m happy to say that I was equally delighted by the second installment!  The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey was just as funny, charming, thrilling, and emotionally honest as its predecessor.  Mr. Stewart, I was moved by your descriptions of the kids’ friendship–they’re precocious in their understanding of their own feelings, but they’re precocious in other ways too, so it made sense.  They reminded me of myself and my closest friends (yay BMVCOE!) and I really enjoyed that.

Not to mention the fun I had trying to figure out all the little pieces of the mystery, and the ups and downs I lived vicariously as the tables turned for the kids time and time again.  This is one of those books that makes me feel like Bastian in the school attic reading The Neverending Story, and living Atreyu’s trials along with him.  Your prose is fantastic, your understanding of storytelling is superb, and I can’t wait to read the next book!  Of course, I’ve also got to give some credit to Diana Sudyka–the illustrations are unique in style and surprisingly evocative to me, and the book wouldn’t be the same without them.  All in all, another five stars for you both!

Love,

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Books this year: 96

Pages this year: 18,906

Dear Trenton Lee Stewart,

The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

An odd advertisement in the newspaper calling for “gifted children looking for special opportunities” draws dozens of children into a series of bizarre tests, and only four of them pass–only to find that they’ve been selected to go undercover to solve a mystery of worldwide importance.

I had The Mysterious Benedict Society sitting around waiting for me to read it ever since it was chosen for The Association of Booksellers for Children’s E.B. White Read-Aloud award in 2008.  It was awesome to meet you at the time, but now that I’ve finally read the book I wish I could meet you all over again!  It was so fantastic!  I read it in conjunction with The Westing Game for a book club meeting with a mystery/puzzle book theme, and was entirely engrossed by the plot and satisfied when I finished.  Funny how the cover of this book and the original Westing Game cover look so similar, and yet they’re two very different kinds of mysteries.  Though this book isn’t a mystery in the usual solve-the-murder kind of way, I had loads of fun trying to sort out what was actually going on.  The beginning of the book when the kids are being tested was my favorite part, actually–I tried to sort of step back from the narrator’s bafflement as strange situations and interactions kept happening in order to see the real tests behind the traditional pencil-and-paper ones, and was thrilled when my theories turned out to be mostly correct.  I was also entirely thrilled by the ending–without giving any spoilers, all I can say is that I loved the way you brought details from early in the book back through cryptic messages and heroic inspiration in order to save the day.  The children themselves were also rather fascinating–I grew very fond of them, and they had the sort of timeless charm that I think will carry them through multiple readings and multiple generations.  What a completely entertaining read!  I’ve got to get my hands on the sequel.  Five stars for you!

Love,

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Dear Ellen Raskin,

The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin

When the tenants of a brand-new apartment building are gathered together for the reading of eccentric millionaire Samuel Westing’s will, they are in for more than any of them bargained for–and the first to solve the mystery of Westing’s murder will become heir to his fortune!

Well Ms. Raskin,  even though you’re not around to read this letter, I hope the sentiment reaches you somehow out in the ether.  The Westing Game is one of the most master_ully woven novels I’ve ever read, which required a second reading and a book club discussion to really appreciate.  I read it as a child, but I think I p_cked it up when I was too young for it–my most vi_id memory was of Turtle and her whipping braid, and I had no memory of it b_ing a mystery or  puzzle at all.  As an adult, though, I can see some of the preci_ion with which you parcel out even the tiniest clues.  I also appreciated the mul_iple parts to this mystery’s final answer–I solved some, and felt quite proud of myself, and w_s totally thrown for a loop by others, which was th_illing during the big reveal.  This little book has stood the test of time for me, and for many other readers, and I hope it alway_ will.  Look up for your stars, because what’s missing is always the most important.

Love,

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Dear Pseudonymous Bosch,

Well, besides you having the awesomest pen name ever, The Name of This Book Is Secret was very entertaining!  I thought that the gimmick, the whole this-is-a-secret thing would get old, but it really didn’t. There was action, adventure, and just the right amount of predictability.  Four stars, and I look forward to the sequel!

Love,

Wanna check out this title for yourself?  Try the Indie Bound or ABC bookstore finders!