the mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stewart

Honestly I had a few wonderful moments when everything clicked together and I felt so accomplished for having solved a problem in an unexpected way. I can't overstate how clever these puzzles were. I just wish they’d put a section in there that would help a kid is struggling to see how to approach the problem and at least provide an answer. Other than that, I think it’s a great idea to have the kind of puzzles that the kids in the books had to solve. It just doesn’t make any sense to me that you would have a puzzle book and then have an attitude about it that “if you’re too stupid to solve the puzzles then don’t read the book”. I don’t think that’s ever appropriate for kids. But the problem is that if you’ve tried to work a puzzle and can’t get it, and you’ve looked at the hint and still can’t get it, and then you can’t find the answer you just wind up feeling stupid. Don’t get me wrong - I think the hints are a great idea and I wish more puzzle books would do that, i.e., give you a hint so you could still get it yourself. One problem with the book is that it does not give you the answers, it only gives hints.

I wish it had done more to explain how the puzzles are solved. I found this book a little disappointing from the standpoint that I think kids that are already good at solving puzzles will enjoy it, and kids who aren’t won’t.

The mysterious benedict society by trenton lee stewart