School Library Journal
Gr 3–5—Tristan Benway has been the butler to the eccentric Bellweathers for his entire life. In fact, for the past 200 years, his family has been serving the family. When Horatio Bellweather saved the life of Tristan's great great great grandfather, Nigel, he created the "Benway Family Oath of Fealty" which is about to expire. Tristan is thrilled. He can't wait to get away from this self-centered cast of characters. The five Bellweather children and their parents create constant chaos with their outlandish and pompous antics. In order to fund his new life, Tristan is writing a tell-all memoir about his years of taking care of this cranky crew. The children discover his plan and scheme to show him how much he is loved. Narrator Michael Page as Benway is the epitome of the somber butler with a pitch-perfect haughty English accent. He is equally adept at voicing the wide range of family members, from the screaming, lunatic father to the secretive, conniving triplets. Recommend this amusing tale, filled with absurd escapades, to fans of Lois Lowry's The Willoughbys (Houghton Mifflin, 2008).—Karen T. Bilton, Mary Jacobs Library, Rocky Hill, NJ
Kirkus Reviews
Portraying the zany antics of the Bellweather family from the perspective of their staid butler, this first novel falls short of the situation's potential hilarity. A misguided ancestor pledged the Benway family to 200 years of butlering to the Bellweathers, and that era is about to end. Benway eyes retirement as the family-inventor father, wall-painter mother, Spider, the son who prefers darkness and dangerous animals, Ninda, social-activist bagpipe player, and very loud-mouthed triplets Sassy, Spike and Brick-run amok in their lighthouse in Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay. An endangered albino alligator Spider has rescued, the triplets' plot to steal the Mona Lisa and Ninda's efforts to turn a family of circus acrobats she's locked in her bedroom into union members add flavor to the brew. Character development is secondary to silliness, creating a sense of superficiality. Debi Gliori's Pure Dead books do a better job of capturing the humor of a bizarre family situation, but as the pace quickens, the Bellweather family will, at very least, amuse and may make some laugh out loud. (Fiction. 9-13)
Publishers Weekly
04/27/2015
This amusing if flawed debut vacillates between third-person narrative and the journal entries of Tristan Benway, whose great-great-great-grandfather "pledged the loyalty and service of his descendants for the next two hundred years" to the insufferable Bellweather family. As Benway endures the final days of his contractual servitude, he comforts himself with his plans for liberation, which include moving to a place "Far, Far Away," and publishing a tell-all book about the family. In somewhat tedious and repetitive fashion, Benway recounts the difficulties of running the Bellweathers' household, especially the horror of keeping tabs on the five Bellweather children: Spider ("a lover of endangered animals... but only the sort who have the ability to poison, maim, or kill people"), budding radical Ninda, and troublemaking triplets Spike, Brick, and Sassy. Venuti has created a unique setting (the Bellweathers live in a lighthouse in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the Bay); some may find it difficult to relate to an unsympathetic, albeit well-drawn, cast of characters, but those who like humor with a slightly misanthropic bent should be entertained. Ages 8—12. (Sept.)
OCTOBER 2009 - AudioFile
Following in Lemony Snicket's footsteps, Kristin Clark Venuti has created an off-kilter world to tickle the preteen funny bone. Michael Page is Benway, butler to the family Bellweather, eccentric residents of Lighthouse on the Hill in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay. He has the elocution of one who graduated first in his class at butler academy. His great-great-great-grandfather swore his family's oath of fealty to Horatio Bellweather and his descendants for two hundred years; the oath finally expires in eight weeks, two hours, and 27 minutes. Michael Page reads Benway's memoir as he counts down the weeks, hours, and minutes to his eagerly anticipated retirement in the quiet tropical paradise of Far, Far Away. Page delivers the detachment one would expect from such an outstanding butler. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
