The Mysterious Benedict Society.
The cover of this novel has haunted me from its place on Kino's shelves for ages until I finally gave in a few days ago, bought the bloody thing and read it. Incidentally, it was exactly what iNeeded to read to get out of my Reader's Block. And yes, I'm sure you can make the connection between that and the more lethal Writer's Block.
Trenton Lee Stewart has never written a children's book before-- this is his first, apparently. You wouldn't know it. Its beginning is simplicity itself and easy to slip into, while the world around you slips out. But adult readers will notice some very non-childish concepts in this book: there is, for instance, a sort of familiarity to Orwell's Big Brother theme. The feeling of something hidden and sickeningly dangerous.
In fact, one of the characters even speaks of how total control is impossible but the illusion of total control equals to the same results. Doesn't that ring a bell? Mention of torture and an ominous place called the Waiting Room adds to the impression. In spite of this, The Mysterious Benedict Society is still very much a children's book. You can tell from the dialog, the caring characters, the slightly cheesy villains and beautiful coincidences that were orchestrated to an unlikely extent. It was as if the author Mister Stewart had taken a menacing bowl of batter and added in sweet things so that the young'uns wouldn't be scared by the spice. To top it off, iAm quite sure he smothered it with extremely sweet vanilla icing.
Hooray for yummy analogies.
This is the sort of book tweens (10-12/13 years old) should be reading. Never mind those 'Gossip Girls' or 'Sweet Valley High's. This has an interesting balance of realism, imagination and sweetness that would be much healthier for the mentality of growing children. Especially the ones who leave that idiot box.
Now on another note...
iSuddenly realized a few days ago that I am not in the habit of reviewing books. I don't enjoy reviewing books, unlike most literary bloggers, if you can call me one. My reviews always end up conveying mixed feelings that make some readers a little tentative about reading the book(s) in question. So I'm going to say this now, before someone comes along and tells me iShouldn't review books. This isn't a blog that reviews books. It is merely about the books I read. There.
Write you later. Go read something.
-The illiterate Blogger- (who can't underline this for some reason)
