THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY
AND THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA
by Trenton Lee Stewart
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Hardcover: 9780316045520
Paperback: 9780316045506
Ages 8-12
400 pages
The Mysterious Benedict Society is being held prisoner! Don’t worry (at least not yet); they, along with their families, are being detained more or less willingly in Mr. Benedict’s house for their own protection. The kids --- Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance --- are under constant threat from Mr. Benedict’s identical twin, Ledroptha Curtain, and his team of Ten Men. They are being held captive for their own good, although they can’t help but feel a little suspicious of some of the guards Mr. Benedict has hired. And they are eager to see if they can help Mr. Benedict channel technology to overcome his debilitating narcolepsy.
Soon, though, the kids begin to suspect that Curtain and his henchmen are plotting to retake control of the nefarious “Whisperer” mind-control machine. When they start to uncover clues, are they getting close to solving the puzzle, or are they walking into a trap? Their quest --- which unfolds in the wake of an orchestrated blackout that plunges Stonetown into darkness --- also coincides with surprising revelations about Constance’s past. What has this youngest (and endearingly crabbiest) member of the Benedict Society intentionally “forgotten”? How can she and the rest of the kids benefit from the new skills she’s developing? And what will happen if these four immensely talented children, not to mention the Whisperer, fall into the wrong hands?
As usual, their problem-solving skills and special talents (Reynie understands people and sees patterns, Sticky knows a staggering amount of trivia, and Kate can tackle any physical problem with her “toolbucket”) are called in to play as they join forces to outsmart Mr. Curtain.
At this point (this is book three in Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society series), readers are already pretty familiar with the varied and unusual skills of these youngsters, but they will continue to enjoy matching their own wits with those of the Society’s members as they consider riddles and clues galore. THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA unfolds at breakneck speed as the heroes must tackle dilemmas and threats thrown at them from all sides. They have to decide who can be trusted as they reflect on their own role in the world at large. In addition to furious plotting, this third outing --- and especially the curmudgeonly four-year-old Constance Contraire --- is laugh-out-loud funny.
The ending of the novel seems to tidily wrap up the Society’s adventures (“the regular meetings of the Society might never again feel so urgent or important as they had in the past.”), but who knows? There are a lot of problems in the world that could benefit from the ingenuity and inventiveness of these four remarkable kids. Upon finishing the book, readers will soon be clamoring for another adventure as entertaining and enlightening as this one.
--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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