The Mysterious Benedict Society

Title: Mysterious Benedict Society
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Publisher: New York : Little, Brown (2007)
ISBN: 9780316057776 0316057770 9781439512050 1439512051
Pages: 485
Characters: Reynie Muldoon, Sticky Washington, Kate Wetherall, Constance Contraire, Mr. Benedict
Bookmarks: 3

Through a series of test, 4 unlikely children are united by the mysterious Mr. Benedict. The 4 children- Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance enroll at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. There, they work to try to solve the myster that Mr. Benedict has presented them with. If they do not solve it in time, the fate of the world may be at stake.

Onced again, I had heard great reviews about this book and was disappointed. Maybe I should stop listening to the reviews. While the storyline was good, I felt that hte book dragged on a lot. It would have been better if it has been shorter by 50 or 60 pages at least. These pages could have come from early on in the book because it was slow to start. Once the kids got to the Institute, the book picked up pace fairly quickly. As an adult reader, I thought the ending a bit contrived and predictable, but younger readers may find it enjoyabl.e

Space Between Trees

Title: The Space Between Trees
Author: Katie Williams
Publisher: San Francisco : Chronicle Books (2010)
ISBN: 9780811871754 0811871754 9780811877299 0811877299
Pages: 274

1 bookmark

16 year old Evie feels that she has no real friends. She stretches the truth about her relationships. In order to fit in with "The Whisperers", she fabricates a relationship with Jonah, who does pest removal in Hokepe Woods where she delivers papers. When he finds her classmate Elizabeth (Zabet) murdered one day, Evie finds herself fabricating another relationship, this time to be accepted by Zabet's father. Evie quickly becomes friends with Hadley, Zabet's best friend in order to cover up her lie. Together, the two hatch a plan to find Zabet's killer. Unfortunately, someone else who is innocent gets caught in the crossfire of their plan and Evie must live with the consequences.

They say don't judge a book by its cover. This book is definitely a case where you should follow that advice. The cover of the book is fabulous- a black tree shape is cut out of the center and placed over purple end papers. The visual effect is striking, specially with barely being able to make out the girl in the background. Sadly, the rest of the book does not live up to the cover. I was seriously disappointed by this book. The premise had so much potential. Instead, the book moved slowly and Evie changed from just being annoying and whiny to being annoying, whiny, and easily manipulated. The fact that she blindly followed Hadley and at the end covered for her made Evie's character really unbelievable. I was also completely shocked at her lack of feeling in cleaning up and re-arranging Zabet's room. It was not something that I see most people doing. Real people would understand that the room didn't need to be disturbed, that Zabet's dad would take care of it in time. I also kept wanting to see some major change in Evie, maybe that she would let someone know that Hadley was crazy and living dangerously. Never happened. The whole book could have been redeemed if the surprise of the murderer had been any good. Seriously, a vagrant. I kept wanting it to be Hadley so that I could have a reason to dislike her other than her being more annoying that Evie.