The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

I really like this book. I like it because of how nerdy the characters are, the wordplay, the cheesiness of it being a children's novel, the plot and character development and.. well just about everything. This 3-book series (I think the third one was sadly the last one) is probably going to be one of my favorite books (on a complete side note, is "series" a singular noun? People say "a book series" or "a series of games" so I'm assuming it is, hence the singular usage of "this" and a singular verb. Because this is a book review blog, I feel it necessary to explain any grammatical inconsistencies if I find any. I did mention that there was going to be very little editing on my end, things that still bother me.).

Going back to the book, the plot was engaging - it kept moving and it kept you guessing. I loved the fact that there were riddles throughout the novel that the kids had to solve (that I would end up trying to solve with them). Stewart really manipulates language so that he never gives away the answer but with a close enough reading, people can get the answer (though sadly, I usually wouldn't get it). The characters were unique and it was that unique-ness that drew me to the characters. It really made them seem like real people (quirky, but real). I also liked how he developed each of the characters so that they retained their real-ness.

Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone. It's just a good read and the characters are definitely very endearing.