A Taste for Candy and Licorice

Every word is important.

And Trenton Lee Stewart demonstrates this beautifully in his book about The Mysterious Benedict Society.

In this book, he tells the story of four orphans (or near-orphans) who have been recruited by Mr. Benedict to stop the infamous Mr. Curtain and his nefarious plot to take over the world. They are to attend Mr. Curtain's "Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened" as spies.

As the foursome -- Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance -- are being prepped by Mr. Benedict on the dangers of their mission, we get a seemingly innocent (albeit delightful) exchange on, of all topics... candy.

The children nodded uneasily. All this talk of danger and emergencies, without explanation, was beginning to wear on them.

"I'm sorry to put you ill at ease," Mr. Benedict said. "And I haven't much to say to comfort you. I can finally offer some answers to your questions, however. Who wishes to begin? Yes, Constance?"

To the great exasperation of the others, Constance demanded to know why they couldn't have candy for breakfast.

Mr. Benedict smiled. "A fine question. The short answer is that there is no candy presently in the house. Beyond that, the explanation involves a consideration of candy's excellent flavor but low nutritional value -- that is to say, why it makes a wonderful treat but a poor meal -- though I suspect you aren't interested in explanations but simply wished to express your frustration. Is that correct?"

"Maybe," Constance said with a shrug. But she seemed satisfied.

Fast forward to later in the story... The Society members are making headway on their mission at the school. Kate has returned from a night of espionage. But the Executives (i.e. Mr. Curtain's henchmen) are on to her. Their one problem: They don't have any concrete proof against Kate.

But then, just when the Mysterious Benedict Society think Kate is off the hook, the Executives approach her once more. This time, they are on to something that could mean big trouble for Kate:

"Jackson forgot to mention something else," Martina said. "He just so happened to spit out a piece of licorice last night in the same place he found that marble. But when he looked for it later, it was gone."

Reynie felt Kate stiffen next to him. They were in trouble.

"Funny thing about licorice," said Jackson. "It's just the sort of thing to get stuck in the bottom of your shoe without your realizing it."

"I get it, I get it," said Kate, squirming in her seat. "So now you want to see the bottoms of my shoes."

"If you'd be so kind," Martina said with a wicked grin. She'd noticed Kate squirming and was delighted to think she'd frightened her.

"Well, sorry about the dripping, but Reynie just spilled juice all over them," Kate said.
"Oh, yes, we saw that," Jackson said. He let out an amused rattle of laughter that sounded like a sheep in pain.

While Jackson was bleating at her expense, Kate pressed something sticky, gritty, and cold into Raynie's hand beneath the table. She hadn't been squirming from nervousness -- she's been twisting her legs up to get at the licorice. As she lifted her sodden shoes now for the Executives to inspect, Reynie reached across under the table and pressed the hunk of licorice into Sticky's hand. The further away from Kate the better, he thought. Sticky had the same idea, immediately passing the licorice on to Constance.

Constance, unfortunately, did not understand what it was.

In horror the boys watched her raise the slimy, dirty, half-chewed glob of candy above the tabletop to examine it. Reynie's eyes swiveled to the Executives, who, having been disappointed in Kate's shoes, were now asking her to show her empty hands, then checking for stickiness under the edge of the table. He looked back to Constance and saw the realization hit her, her eyes widening with alarm. And then, an instant before Martina glanced up to see it, Constance popped the licorice into her mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it.

Taken from:
Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007), pp. 94-95, 392-393.

How did I rate this book? 4 1/2 stars