The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart is a “mystery surrounded by a riddle”  as the reader must become a detective along with the main characters as they journey to save Mr. Benedict. Mr. Benedict’s brother, Mr.Curtain, who has never found peace being himself and who has much anger inside him, believes that the plant Duskwort is real, He wants to use this to control the world. Duskwort, he believes, could put the whole world to sleep. But Duskwort is extinct. It cannot be found anywhere on earth. Mr. Curtain kidnaps Mr. Benedict, so the kids find clues from Mr.Benedict and solve the mystery and free the kidnapped Mr. Benedict.

The soul of this book, or the shinning light that makes everyone feel stronger and warmer and more brave is Kate. Without her the kids would not be a team, or a family. They might simply go their own ways and be alone. She is the magical glue that holds hem together. a glue that you cannot see but is there.

Kate is a girl who lives on a farm. She is a very gifted girl and her soul gives off a very, very great light that makes others strong.This light is a glue. This glue makes her a great leader for the whole group.  In this story, she help her friends to solve the problem, and she very care of another people, also protect them. She has a lot of good ideas about how to solve the clue and save Mr. Benedict.

Kate is ,the leader of the group. She helps the group to escape the mountain. “Satisfied, Kate... she quickly determined the best route: First short north westerly descent to a prominent goat path…”in P401. Kate helps them to go into the forest which saves them because they know this forest well. Kate always tells the boys where they need to go, and how to solve their problems.

Kate always protects the Benedict Society kids and is very nice to them, her friends: “One moment Kate stood in the doorway, taking in the sight of her friend being held down by Martina Crowe…Reynie’s and Martina’s eyes instinctively followed the light ( which was exactly why Kate had thrown it )…” in P318

Also, Kate cares about all the members in the group. For example “Kate let out a gasp, then burst into tears, for the Tenmen’s appearance could mean only one thing …”  (P388) I think Kate cares about all the people because they are very important in her.

This is the reason why I think Kate is the most important character in the book. Her 3 characteristic show friendship to become the light that guided the children to Mr. Benedict and then found the way home. It is kind of funny to call a girl glue, but I think it is the biggest complement to receive and something proud to be.