Reviewed by Brown Bear, age 12:

When I first saw this book, I looked at the jacket blurb and got an entirely incorrect first impression, as almost all of my first impressions are. I thought I would not enjoy the book because I thought I knew what kind of book it was. It thought it would be very typical and predictable.

It was not typical and it was not predictable in any way.

Emma-Jean Lazarus is suddenly faced with many difficulties. Emma-Jean doesn’t understand other kids. She considers them illogical and she knows that some are very rude. She keeps her distance from her classmates, observing them but never really interacting. But, despite this, when Colleen Pomerantz, whom she discovers sobbing over the bathroom sink at her school, asks desperately for her help with a problem of her own, Emma-Jean decides to help her.

On top of this, a boy named Will Keeler is being injustly picked on by a teacher, and she decides to help him as well. Emma-Jean solves both of their problems using methods involving forgery and trickery. But what happens when her deception is found out? Will Emma-Jean decide that getting into other people’s business, even with their permission, is a bad idea? Will she go back to the Emma-Jean she was before she walked in on Collen crying in the bathroom?

I enjoyed this book very much because A) The kids in it were exactly my age, which pleased me, B) It was original and wasn’t too reminiscent of any other books, and C) It had many different angles, so I never grew bored.

I don’t know what my favorite Cybil nominee is yet, but this one was one of the best I’ve read.

Sherry’s Thoughts: When Emma-Jean Lazarus’s classmates taunt her and call her “strange”, she and her mother look up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary, “kept out on her mother’s dresser for handy reference.”

The second definition for strange is “extraordinary, remarkable, singular.” Emma-Jean and her mother decide that the description is quite accurate as applied to Emma-Jean, and they further decide that Emma-Jean should take such an epithet as a compliment rather than an insult. The “strange” thing about the episode is that Emma-Jean does deal with all her problems just so logically.

Emma-Jean reminds me of the TV detective, Monk. She’s never labelled with OCD or Asperger’s or any other of the multitude of labels we give to those have strange (and remarkable) personalities, and that’s a strength of the novel. I’m not like Emma-Jean, but I can identify. Which of us isn’t extraordinary, remarkable, and singular in the unique way God created each of us, and which of hasn’t known the feeling of not fitting in with the crowd?

Emma-Jean learns and grows over the course of the novel, and at the same time she remains a singular, remarkable young lady. I agree with Brown Bear Daughter that this book was one of the best of the Cybil nominees I’ve read.

Reviewed by Betsy-Bee, age 8:

Cork was a muskrat and Fuzz was a possum. They both like it when they win a game. Fuzz always won and Cork wanted to win. And he finally did. It made me think about when my family always wins and I don’t. But eventually I do. Fuzz had longer legs then Cork; Fuzz was better at stickball than Cork and he was better at tackle ball. But Cork can swim and Fuzz can’t and he was very, very good at hide-and-seek. But there was a game that they both could win: A three-legged race!

Sherry’s thoughts: I read Cork & Fuzz: Good Sports, too, and I thought it was an entertaining and delightful easy reader. Cork and his friend Fuzz are personable characters, and the words themselves are difficult enough to be challenging (level 3), but with some repetition for phonetic and sight word practice.

This easy reader has been nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Do you have a favorite children’s book published in 2007? Nominations are still open in the following categories: Fantasy and Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction Picture Books, Middle Grade Fiction, Middle Grade and Young Adult Nonfiction, Nonfiction Picture Books, Poetry, and Young Adult Fiction.

Reviewed by Karate Kid, age 10:

How to steal a dog? Well, this book doesn’t really tell how to steal a dog, it tells why to steal a dog. Here we go, there is a girl named Georgina, and her little brother is named Toby. They are very poor and live in a car. Their father left them, leaving only a roll of quarters and a mayonaise jar with a bunch of crumpled dollar bills. That wasn’t much to live on and Georgina’s “Mommy” didn’t make too much money. One night, Georgina saw a sign, Small Dog Lost! Reward: $500 . That got Georgina thinking, what if she stole a dog, waited until she saw reward signs, and returned it for money! She asked her mom if 500 dollars would be enough to get a real home. Her mom said probably. Georgina’s heart leaped and she told Toby (her brother, remember) her plan. The next day they looked all over the neighborhood for dogs that wouldn’t bark, bite, or chew their leash off and run away. Finally, on a street called Whitington Road, they found it. A house that looked so good on the outside… with a dog on the porch. It was so inviting that Georgina imediatly whistled for him and he came right over! They picked him up and took him across the highway to an old house in the woods. there he stayed . . . for awhile. . . I am not telling you what happens next; I’ve given away enough already! Read it, you’ll love it!

This book and many other great reading adventures have been nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Do you have a favorite children’s book published in 2007? Nominations are still open in the following categories: Fantasy and Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction Picture Books, Middle Grade Fiction, Middle Grade and Young Adult Nonfiction, Nonfiction Picture Books, Poetry, and Young Adult Fiction.

Four exceptional children:
Sticky Washington, the boy with a glue-like memory.
Kate the Great Weatherall, or The Great Kate Weather Machine as she would prefer to be called.
Reynie Muldoon, the leader with a knack for figuring out puzzles.
Cranky Constance whose salient talent is that of finding the negative in everything and telling everybody about it, loudly and sometimes in verse.

Their Mission: To save the world, of course.

Their Enemy: Ledroptha Curtain, arch-villain whose goal is control of the world and whose methods are almost impossible to resist.

Their Friends: Mr. Benedict, Mysterious Milligan, Rhonda Kazembe, and Pencil Woman Number Two.

Can four children infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.), find out what Mr. Curtain is doing, how he is doing it, and how to stop him before he takes over the world?

I loved this book. It reminded me first of last year’s Kiki Strike —without the feminist agenda. In The Mysterious Benedict Society, just in Kiki Strike, four children form a team to fight evil, each has his own special abilities, and the adventure never quits. But in Benedict the children are two boys and two girls, and there’s never any hint of boys against girls or that obnoxious phrase “girl power.”

I think, for Harry Potter fans, there are some HP echoes, too, although I can’t be sure since I’m the only reader in North America who hasn’t read Harry Potter. (Constance and I share a stubborn streak.) Anyway, the idea of an elite group of children with special abilities who are tasked with learning to use their talents and finding a way to save the world seems to me to be straight out of the HP world.

Other themes in the books include: facing fear, finding and cherishing family, and teamwork. Each of these motifs is played out in the course of an adventure that keeps the reader turning the pages to see what will happen next. The Mysterious Benedict Society is Mr. Stewart’s first novel for children, and it’s a corker. I can hardly wait to read more books by this author.

Oh, and Computer Guru Son, who is a Decemberists (musical group) fan, immediately recognized the cover art as the work of Carson Ellis who also does the album cover art for the Decembrists. Here’s an interview with Ms. Ellis, if you’re interested.

Two more things you’ll understand only if you’ve already read the book: I really liked the revelation about Connie at the end of the book, and I didn’t guess it at all. And did anyone else have the brains and the time to figure out the riddle at the end of the book concerning Mr. Benedict’s first name? I must be dense because I still have no idea.

Oh, I also liked the fact that the book actually ends. The author may have left some room for a sequel, but in our mania for sequels and series we’ve gone way overboard, IMHO. I’m sort of tired of the book that never ends but only promises to do so possibly at some time in the future, and this one was a satisfying change. Nice ending, and I’m game for a possible sequel with some of the same characters or for something completely different from Mr. Stewart next time around.

The Curiosity Chronicle: An Interview With Trenton Lee Stewart.

Other reviews:

Renee’s Book of the Day: “I did enjoy the book a lot and definitely believe that ten- or eleven- year olds would drink this book right up. It’s full of puzzles, intrigue, evil plots, bullies, sinister institutions, action, humor, and warmth.”

Jen Robinson’s Book Page: “I would have adored this book when I was 10 or 11. The Mysterious Benedict Society is a sure winner for middle grade readers, boy and girls, especially if they like puzzles, or reading about mystery and adventure.”