Review: Benny on the Case

Benny on the Case

Author: Wesley King

Simon & Schuster, 2025

ISBN: 9781668081655 (hardcover)
9781668081662 (EPUB)

$23.99 CAD (hardcover)
$11.99 CAD (EPUB)

288 pages

Ages: 8 to 12 years

Benny, who has mosaic Down syndrome, and Salma, who is new to the area, become fast friends on their first day at school together. After a series of thefts, an inspector threatens to close the retirement home where Benny and his mother live and work. Benny and Salma navigate bullies and prejudice at school and spend their evenings trying to figure out who is stealing from the home's residents. Mr. Tom, an eighty-six-year-old resident and Benny’s best friend, helps the sleuths on the sidelines. More than just a nail-biting, page-turning mystery, Benny on the Case is a heartwarming story with the added value of its setting and its main characters navigating treatment as outsiders by their peers. A must-read for all Canadian kids aged 8 to 12, this middle-grade novel begins with a glossary of the Newfoundland terms that figure prominently in the story and adds to its charm.