The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey is the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society. Because both books are mystery novels, the characters must solve a wide variety of puzzles to succeed. In the first book, 11-year-old Reynard “Reynie” Muldoon is an especially clever orphan who answers a newspaper ad for gifted children and aces a series of difficult tests using his critical-thinking and observation skills. He is selected to join Mr. Benedict’s secret mission along with three other children. Sticky is selected because of his extraordinary memory and ability to read quickly, while Kate is chosen for her physical strength, agility, and problem-solving abilities. Constance is selected because of her stubbornness and her unusual approach to the tests. At first, the other children are perplexed by Constance’s tantrums and frequent need to nap, but they later learn that she is only two years old.

The children befriend Mr. Benedict, Milligan, Rhonda Kazembe, and Number Two. They initially mistake Rhonda for a child, but she is really an adult woman. Number Two resembles a pencil and has to eat constantly to make up for the fact that she barely sleeps. The children then infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (LIVE), an organization run by Ledroptha Curtain.