The Mysterious Benedict Society

Reynie is a very curious and intelligent boy. He lives in an orphanage where he doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. All of the other kids aren’t as smart as him. None of them really see eye to eye. Then, when his intelligence is noticed by his foster mom, he is assigned a tutor.

Reynie’s tutor is a big part of his life. Her name is Miss Perumal. They spend a great amount of time together. One day he was reading the newspaper, and he came upon this interesting ad. It was an ad for children of all ages. In writing, it said, “NO ADULTS ALLOWED!” The ad stated that there was going to be a hard test. Only the truly intelligent children would be able to get in. At that moment, Reynie thought that he would make it in. No doubt about it. After thinking about taking the test, he decided he would. So he went to tell Miss Perumal. Miss Perumal okayed it with Reynie’s foster mom, and he was signed up.

When the test day came around, he was given very specific instructions. After he was dropped off to take the test by Miss Perumal, he ran into this strange girl. He later found out that her name was Rhonda. She was goofing around on the steps of the building they were taking the test in, and she dropped the only pencil she was allowed to bring down the sewage drain. When Reynie saw that no one else was volunteering to help her, he decided he would. Reynie was not able to get the pencil, so he broke his in half and sharpened the side of the pencil that wasn’t sharpened.

Rhonda was so grateful to Reynie for helping her with the pencil situation, so she offered him the answers to the test that she just happened to have. Obviously, Reynie said no. He said no after he thought about it a long time. After this little incident, the first test goes by and then he learns there are three more tests. Reynie and three other kids pass through all of them together. Nobody else makes it. None of them went through it with ease though. There were some pretty tough questions and a huge maze that they all had to find their way through without any instructions. It was a very grueling experience.

A couple of hours pass after completing all of the tests. All of the children have been waiting in this room to meet Mr. Benedict, the leader of the program. When they do finally get to meet him, they learn that he has a disease. It is known as Narcolepsy. What happens is that he falls asleep when he is experiencing a lot of emotion. He’s usually only out for a minute or two. This disease is why his assistants are so protective of him. They always want him to sit on the floor so he doesn’t fall straight to the ground and hurt himself.

Eventually, Mr. Benedict does get to explaining what the children have to do now. He explains why he asked for children and nothing but children in the ad. It is a long-term project and he needs his “agents” to be with him for a while. That’s why he needed children. Mr. Benedict shares with Reynie and the others that his assistants were the last children to succeed and pass all of the tests. Their job is to protect him. But, when he gets to Reynie’s job as an agent, he mentions that it’s very dangerous. They will be given time to make their decision, but they will need to inform him of their decision by the next morning.

Mr. Benedict may not mention what their mission is, but he does say that the children are in more danger in the outside world than on this mission. It will prevent them from getting hurt. That’s what seals the deal for Reynie. He decides that he will do this mission. He knows that he will probably never see Miss Perumal again, but he knows that this is very important to Mr. Benedict. Reynie doesn’t want to let him down. With this mission, Reynie feels like he actually serves a purpose in this world. Now he doesn’t feel as if he is an outsider anymore. This is definitely a turning point in his life. They go on to more adventures but you’ll have to read the book to find out about them.