The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages

May 15, 2019
When deadly minions of archvillain Ledroptha Curtain escape from prison, the talented young protégés of his twin brother, Nicholas Benedict, reunite for a new round of desperate ploys and ingenious trickery. Stewart sets the reunion of cerebral Reynie Muldoon Perumal, hypercapable Kate Wetherall, shy scientific genius George "Sticky" Washington, and spectacularly sullen telepath Constance Contraire a few years after the previous episode, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (2009). Providing relief from the quartet's continual internecine squabbling and self-analysis, he trucks in Tai Li, a grubby, precociously verbal 5-year-old orphan who also happens to be telepathic. (Just to even the playing field a bit, the bad guys get a telepath too.) Series fans will know to be patient in wading through all the angst, arguments, and flurries of significant nose-tapping (occasionally in unison), for when the main action does at long last get under way--the five don't even set out from Mr. Benedict's mansion together until more than halfway through--the Society returns to Nomansan Island (get it?), the site of their first mission, for chases, narrow squeaks, hastily revised stratagems, and heroic exploits that culminate in a characteristically byzantine whirl of climactic twists, triumphs, and revelations. Except for brown-skinned George and olive-complected, presumably Asian-descended Tai, the central cast defaults to white; Reynie's adoptive mother is South Asian. Clever as ever--if slow off the mark--and positively laden with tics, quirks, and puns. (Fiction. 11-13)

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Starred review from May 1, 2019
Grades 4-6 *Starred Review* The Mysterious Benedict Society is back! The cast has aged, but the criminal contingency, amped-up action, and derring-do remain the same. Now teenagers, bright-bulb Reynie, intrepid Kate, and Sticky, he of the photographic memory, have the biggest fight ever on their hands. All of the bad guys from previous books (a baker's dozen of them) have returned with revenge on their minds and nefarious plans in their pockets, along with all sorts of instruments of evil. Also in attendance is the ever-contrary Constance Contraire, now a preteen, and with her is a telepath like herself, the adorable, five-year-old Tai. There's no point in trying to describe the ins and outs of the adventure, other than to say that at times it's convoluted but always high octane. What Stewart does so well here is hearken back to the first book, where the characters were introduced and readers got inside their heads and their evolving relationships. Now old enough to think about lives outside the Society, Reynie, Sticky, and Kate are doing just that. But the notion that things might and can change, depending on their own decisions, brings a new awkwardness to their relationships, along with the trepidation that even kids who aren't geniuses face. And then there are the telepaths: Constance, who's as obnoxious and angry as ever, though this time she's tempered by discovering her true feelings; and the pure sweetness that is Tai. A welcome return full of the right stuff. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This highly acclaimed, beloved series has legions of fans, and this latest installment is getting an impressive marketing campaign to build further buzz.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)