The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

This book is a young reader level book that I really enjoyed reading. I don't believe it is a series or anything which is nice to be able to read a book and not have to read a series of books. Reynie is a young orphan that follows a newspaper article to take a test for gifted children. He progresses through a series of tests to be one of four children to pass forming the Mysterious Benedict Society. Mr. Benedict gets these four children with exceptional abilities to form a team to save the world by taking over everyone's mind. Sticky has the ability to read, look, or hear anything and be able to recall it again word for word. Kate is incredibly resourceful in her ability to get through any situation using her bucket of odds-n-ends. Constance doesn't seem to really have any special talent except for being very grumpy and always disagreeing with everyone. They become 'undercover agents' and enroll in a gifted school that is a cover for Mr. Curtain's evil plan to take over the world. This isn't the usual school where you learn normal lessons. They are taught to learn phrases that don't seem to make sense and take tests on this material. Those who do the best can become Messengers who get special priveleges of sitting in the Whisperer. The Whisperer is the machine that transmits messages into everyones minds through the tv and eventually has the ability to erase everyone's memory. The Benedict Society has to save the day and find a way to destroy the Whisperer and Mr. Curtain.