The Butler Tells All

After fulfilling his part of a 200-year-old family oath to serve, Benway* the butler is leaving the Bellweathers, which also happens to be the name of his tell-all memoir about his days serving a family that’s just begging me to use the word eccentric. The father is an inventor, the mother slightly batty; their five children occupy themselves with escapades like kidnapping circus families, tending an endangered alligator, and creating “art” on a massive scale. Once they discover that Benway intends to quit, the kids realize that they’re quite fond of the old retainer and decide that they’ll make him stay—even as he’s realizing he doesn’t want to go. Mostly, the book, in the form of Benway's first-person journal and third-person memoir, is an excuse to relate the Bellweathers’ adventures, which are funny and exciting in a mild way that’s well-suited to a middle-grade reader.

Correction, Oct. 1, 2009: This review originally called the butler "Baxter." His name is Benway.

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Fear Factor: (All danger here, even that involving the albino alligator, is pure slapstick.)
Heart: (Benway the butler’s discovery of a real affection for the family he works for is nice, but there’s more humor here than heart.)
Attitude: (There’s some degree of smart-alecking the crazy-professor father, but it’s very mild.)
Psst: I’m reminded that the early teens may not be too early for an intro to the inimitable Jeeves.
If you like this: Don’t forget From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler for more adventures that skirt the edge of the possible.

KJ Dell'Antonia Former Manhattan lawyer and prosecutor, parent of four. Lover of books and bacon.

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