Book Review - Benny on the Case by Wesley King

 

Benny on the Case by Wesley King is about a young boy, Benny, who teams up with a new friend, Salma, to help solve a recent string of thefts that threaten to close down his home in a Newfoundland retirement community, Starflower by the Sea. Benny isn’t like the average kid his age. He has Mosaic Down syndrome, lives in a retirement home, and his best friend is an eighty-six years old named Mr. Tom.

Benny has finally convinced his mother to allow him to attend mainstream classes instead of the special courses he usually takes with other children who have special needs. The other students tease him because he is different, and Benny starts to feel alone until a new girl joins the school. Salma is new to the area, and she is also different. She is tech-savvy, speaks Arabic, plays sports with a major love for basketball, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

Salma and Benny end up befriending each other, which comes in handy when Salma’s grandmother and other residents who live at the retirement home that Benny and his mother run are robbed. After the string of robberies is reported, the inspector threatens to close down the home unless they can figure out who is behind the robberies. As if Benny and Salma didn’t have enough going on, they also have to deal with the bullies at school and try to find a way for everyone to work together peacefully on a school project.

I like that the author included a small dictionary and explanations for some of the Newfoundland terminology the characters used. Some terms were easy to understand, while others I had to revisit to grasp their meanings. The novel was easy to read, with a few twists, and it was entertaining to see how Salma and Benny try to figure out the mystery while dealing with bullies.

I appreciate that the book tackled difficult topics in a heartwarming yet realistic way. For example, when a character talks about coming to terms with their past, it doesn’t come with the exact heartwarming closure we expect (i.e., the other person forgives them and reconnects the moment the other person passes). It took a few chapters before I became invested in the storyline, but I would be interested in reading more books by the author.