The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
I was really excited about this one, because it promised so many things I love: Logic puzzles! Smart kids! Mystery!
It’s not that this book didn’t deliver what was promised. It was just done in a kind of boring way. A group of four very diverse children encounter a problem, and solve it in different ways— over and over and over, in the same order every time. For me, it was completely mind-numbing. Young children might love this book, because some level of predictability can be comforting when you’re little– I also have a coworker who loves it and I trust her judgment, too! So perhaps it’s a matter of taste. If it sounds interesting to you, it might be worth a read. One book I did really enjoy that has some of the same themes is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin– give that one a shot, too!
Curious about the rest of my answers? Find a list of them here.
[…] Day 18: A Book That Disappointed You […]