The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict

Today I am reviewing The extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is only in hardcover at the moment. It is 470 pages long with 30 chapters. The cover and each chapter beginning has the delightful art by Diana Sudyka. This is the fourth book in the series but it is a prequel giving the reader a look into Mr. Benedict's childhood. Nicholas Benedict is a genius but as he is only a nine year old boy he is ignored. The adults in his short life have been selfish and cruel. He has only lived in orphanages as his parents were killed in experiment when he was a baby. The story starts with him going to a new orphanage called 'Child's End. The real name of the place is Rothschild's End but everyone just calls it 'Child's End because it is a horrible place to live. When Mr. Rothschild died he wanted his house to be an place where children can come to be safe. But because of bad management the place is going to ruin and it going to be closed down. Nicholas is befriended by John Cole and runs afoul of the local bullies The Spiders. He learns that there is a treasure hidden by Mrs. Rothschild and he determines to find it. With the treasure he and John are going to leave the orphanage and live wherever they want to but first they have to beat Mr. Collum to it. It is a fun wonderful read just like all the others in the series. I need to get my hands on the other books as I have only read two of the them. I look forward to the next one in the series.