BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSEleven-year-old Reynie Muldoon is a gifted orphan at Stonetown Orphanage who spends mornings reading the newspaper with his kind tutor Miss Perumal, when a peculiar advertisement for gifted children catches their eye. After a day of cleverly tricky exams that reward honesty and creative thinking over raw knowledge, Reynie meets three other remarkable children who also passed: Sticky Washington, a nervous runaway whose photographic memory lets him recall anything he reads; Kate Wetherall, a bold former circus performer who carries all her tools in a red bucket; and Constance Contraire, a tiny girl who disagrees with almost everything, loudly and often. A warm but narcoleptic man named Mr. Benedict explains that the world is in serious danger, that hidden messages are being secretly broadcast into the minds of people everywhere, causing widespread fear and confusion called the Emergency, and that the four children, as the newly formed Mysterious Benedict Society, are the only ones who can go undercover at a mysterious, heavily guarded island school to find out the truth.
Free Battle of the Books questions for The Mysterious Benedict Society
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about The Mysterious Benedict Society. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book is a strict test administrator described as resembling a giant walking pencil?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Reynie thinks this about Number Two when he first sees her administering the test. She is thin, yellow-skinned, wearing a mustard suit, with rusty red hair, and her stiff posture seals the image. The nickname sticks in his head before he learns her real role.
- First half
In what book does a captive escape by picking handcuffs with a tool made from his own bitten off fingernails?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Milligan recounts how, blindfolded and in chains, he found a tiny device in his fist. He had bitten his fingernails and toenails down to the quick to fashion a lock pick. He picks the cuffs in less than a minute and escapes by diving off a cliff.
- First half
In what book does a girl tie another kid's shoelaces to a desk using only her toes?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
When Martina insults Sticky for being bald, Kate slips off her shoes and uses her circus skills to knot Martina's shoelaces to the desk. Martina goes flying when she stands up. Kate's act of revenge makes the whole class burst into laughter.
- Second half
In what book is a boy caught cheating by tugging his ear lobe during a quiz?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Sticky uses his ear lobe as a signal to Constance during quizzes. Jillson catches him and sends him to the dreaded Waiting Room, which kicks off a terrible day and sets up Reynie's plan to frame Martina.
- Second half
In what book is there a machine that looks like an old-fashioned beauty salon hair dryer?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Mr. Curtain's Whisperer is built with a blue helmet for the Messenger and a red helmet for him. The boys are shocked at how simple the machine looks, considering its frightening mind-altering power.
- Near the end
In what book does a man dump hot water down a floor drain to scald a hidden eavesdropper?
✓ Answer
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Mr. Curtain suspects someone is listening through the drain in his office, which used to be a butchery. He dumps boiling water down the pipe, but Kate barely escapes through the underground culvert to the shore.
