The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
Little, Brown Young Readers, 2008
Fiction
ISBN: 0316057800
448 pages
Synopsis
A year after their original dangerous task of unearthing the terrible plan of Mr. Curtain to take over the world and enslave the minds of men with his nefarious machine, The Whisperer, the four genius children are ready to take another trip together that will stimulate their ever growing minds. However, something has gone terribly wrong, and now the four must sneak away and attempt to find the trail that Mr. Benedict has left them, so that they can find where he’s been taken and rescue him.
Critique
This sequel is in many ways equal to its predecessor. It does not have the totalitarian subplot of the previous book that educates its readers about the dangerous of reinventing language and using fear as a means to control people, but where it lacks in that dialogue, it makes up in other areas. The adventure aspect of this book is far stronger, showing the children working their way across the Atlantic and throughout Western Europe in a very “Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego” sort of manner. They discover clues that they have to decipher in order to bring them to their next city.
The puzzles themselves have more variety and intrigue to them than the puzzles of the last book, and it’s fun to try to solve the puzzles before getting to the eventual revelation that the children have about them. Also, the children have changed and matured in different ways, and so their struggles throughout the text are different than in the previous—in many ways more mature. Especially for kids, this book has the potential to reveal the ‘inner genius’ within them and to help them discover their own variant talents. It may even educate an adult reader or two, giving personal insight through the puzzles and associating with each child. I recommend this text to readers 8+.
The other books in this series so far are The Mysterious Benedict Society (book 1), and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma (book 3).
Rating Rubric
Enjoyable Read: Original Fantasy: Original Plot: 
Language: Asthetics: Depth In Characters: Depth In Story: Social Commentary: Layers/Complexity: Classroom Text: Overall Rating:
For the Classroom
This is a fun book as a classroom companion for 2nd or 3rd graders who are studying Western European geography or culture, and may inspire any teacher to create a ‘perilous journey’ of his or her own for her students, enabling them to solve riddles in order to travel around Europe or any other place.
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