The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007), Trenton Lee Stewart

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunites?"  If you are...read on!

Reynie Muldoon is very smart.  He is also an orphan.  There's only one person in the world who cares about him - Miss Perumal, his tutor.  Miss Perumal notices a newspaper advertisement looking to test intellectually gifted children.  Reynie signs up, and passes all of the odd tests given throughout the course of the day.  Only three other children pass: George "Sticky" Washington, a bald-headed child with thick glasses and an amazing memory.  Kate Wetherall, a sporty former circus actor who always carries a bucket filled with tools to help her get out of a jam.  And finally Constance Contraire, a very short a very stubborn little girl.  

These four children were selected by Mr. Benedict to help save the world.  In an old building (that I imagined to look quite a bit like the Addams' Family house, or the Hall of Languages at Syracuse University), the children are trained by an eclectic group of dedicated members of the Mysterious Benedict Society.  The children are sent to infiltrate a special school for gifted students, which Mr. Benedict believes to be the source of a brainwashing effort that is affecting the world's population.  The school is on Nomansan Island - which is strikingly similar to Alcatraz.  

With lots of ingenuity and intelligence, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance quickly make their way up the educational ladder and get to know the evil principal, Mr. Curtain.  They find out the secrets of his plot to take over the world, and they report back to Mr. Benedict via morse code.  

Will the Mysterious

 Benedict Society stop Mr. Curtain before he brainwashes the population?  You'll have to read this page-turner of a mystery to find out!  

There are two more books published about the Mysterious Benedict Society...can't wait to read about these quirky characters!