The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

"I shall read now the names of those who passed the test," announced the pencil woman. "If your name is called you will advance to the third stage of testing, so please remain seated and await further instructions. Those whose names are not called are free to go."

Reynie's ears perked up. There was a third stage?

The pencil woman cleared her throat, but this time she didn't bother looking at the paper in front of her. "Reynard Muldoon!" she called out.

On her way out of the room, she added, "That is all."

-The Mysterious Benedict Society

Well, I'm back after another little foray out of town, which gave me some quality airport reading time with The Mysterious Benedict Society. It's a book I'm feeling ambivalent about, so it should be interesting to see how this post goes.

When I first spied Benedict at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver last year, I was intrigued. It looked like exactly the kind of book I would have adored as a child. Benedict tells the story of Reynie Muldoon (I know, believe me), a smart, lonely kid who comes across an advertisement promoting an opportunity for exceptional children. This leads him to the series of tests (where the excerpt above comes in) and to a new group of companions who all have their own extraordinary talents. These children come together to fight...well, it's nothing good. It involves something called The Emergency. And a cunning adversary called Ledroptha Curtain.

Yes, Stewart has an affection for twee, overly worked names. Curtain I actually don't mind so much - he is the villain in a children's book, after all. Reynie is a bit much, I think, especially when one of his newfound friends is named Sticky. Oh, well, his real name is George - George Washington, that is. Sigh.

There's a fine line in children's literature between the clever and the overly precious. In Benedict, the names just happen to be a good example of how one can push it a bit too far, in my opinion. There's a reason Harry Potter is not named, say, Aloysius Bloom or similar. To me, Reynard Muldoon doesn't sound like a name. Well, maybe for a soap star.*

But how about the plot? About 100 pages into it, I was getting a bit worried. I certainly wasn't invested, and the sequel was already sitting on my bookshelf. At about 150 page mark, I started getting more interested, and I will say a couple of the plot twists were pleasant surprises. Things chug along pretty respectably once the children become embroiled in their mission, but it never quite turns into a pageturner.

I don't feel as though I have too much more to say, honestly. I'm not inclined to read the sequel right away, but I did like Reynie (despite his name) and will probably get to it eventually. For now, I think I might try Blackwater, another Swedish mystery (not Wallander, though).

*It actually is strikingly similar to Reynard Muldrake, the name Jose Chung chooses as a pseudonym for Fox Mulder in the X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." I'm just saying.