Responding to an unusual newspaper advertisement (“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?”), Reynie Muldoon follows the ad’s directive to take a special test at a designated place and time. Of the many children who show up for the test, only Reynie and three others are selected to undertake a dangerous mission for the Mysterious Benedict Society. Acting as secret agents, the four children must infiltrate the exclusive Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. The Mysterious Benedict Society’s eccentric leader is convinced that the Institute is the source of insidious messages being delivered directly into human brains. He believes these messages are causing the “Emergency ”—a worldwide deterioration of all aspects of civilization that is triggering a demand for dramatic government upheaval. At the center of an intricate and dryly comic plot lies a message of cooperation and tolerance as the four quirky and very different children learn that none of them can solve the mystery (and save the world!) without the help of the others. (Ages 10–13)

For fans of Lemony Snicket and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, this first book in the bestselling, award-winning Mysterious Benedict Society series is not to be missed!

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" Dozens of children respond to this peculiar newspaper ad and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children—two boys and two girls—succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it, they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they'll find in the hidden underground tunnels of the school is more than your average school supplies. So, if you're gifted, creative, or happen to know Morse Code, they could probably use your help.