Benny on the Case
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- USD 10.99
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- USD 10.99
Publisher Description
Two starred reviews!
A New York Public Library Best Kids Book of 2025
A School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book of 2025
A boy with Mosaic Down syndrome navigates entering a mainstream classroom, making new friends, and standing up to bullies all while trying to catch a thief and save his home in this “suspenseful, emotional” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade mystery from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Wesley King.
Benny isn’t your average boy from Newfoundland. He lives in a retirement home that his mother runs, he has an eighty-six-year-old best friend named Mr. Tom, he knows more about fixing boats than video games, and he has Mosaic Down syndrome. When Benny transitions to a mainstream classroom for the first time, the other students tease him for his differences…except for Salma. She’s new, too, and not your typical Newfoundland girl: she’s tech savvy, speaks Arabic, plays basketball, and isn’t afraid to eat lunch with Benny.
So when Salma’s grandmother and several other residents in the retirement home are robbed, Benny asks Salma to help him catch the thief. Time is not on their side as an inspector threatens to close the home. And to make matters worse, Benny and Salma must crack the case while working on a class assignment with their bullies. Can Benny save his home and take a stand against the bullies once and for all? He’s about to find out, b’ys.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Born with mosaic Down syndrome, white-cued 11-year-old Benny Brooks, who lives in a retirement home owned by his mother, yearns to find a friend his own age. He bonds with Salma Price, freshly settled in Newfoundland from Seattle, as they both contend with bullies who taunt Benny for being "special ed" and label Salma, who is of Tunisian descent, a "foreign girl" because of her Arabic name. At the retirement home, valuable items have begun vanishing from people's rooms, establishing a disturbing trend just as a new inspector for senior services visits. With the police convinced that an addled resident is losing items and with the inspector threatening to close the home, Benny teams up with true-crime-podcast-loving Salma to uncover the culprit. Palpable tension makes for a suspenseful, emotional read by King (Butt Sandwich & Tree) as Benny strives to save not only his family's home and livelihood but also an essential refuge for elders in need, all while grieving the death of his father four years earlier. Utilizing a POV seldom seen in children's fiction, King crafts a uniquely savvy mystery crackling with the chill and charm of rural Newfoundland. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12.
