Customer Reviews

Leaving the Bellweathers

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LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS is just so funny, I could simply say "read it if you enjoy humor" and leave it at that. But there are some other things to note about this book. First of all, I was surprised at what a page-turner it was. I started reading it while in the middle of a project, thinking it would be a great book to pick up and put down, a nice little ten-minute-at-a-time break from serious thinking. How wrong I was! I tried hiding the book in a hard-to-reach cupboard. That solution didn't work--I had to bring it back down and finish it! Secondly, although Tristan Benway, stuffy and unappreciated butler to the Bellweathers, is an unlikely hero, I loved his character so much that by the conclusion of his delightfully absurd journal entries I was quite upset that the book had ended. Thirdly, the humor is layered so both children and their parents can find plenty to laugh about. Puns, both sly and silly, are everywhere. Witty commentary on human nature is slipped in next to hilarious character names, zany exploits, and out-and-out pranks by the Bellweather children, Spider, Ninda, Spike, Sassy, and Brick. Rollicking fun!

A fun read that would make a great family movie!

I had been wanting to read Leaving the Bellweathers for a while, but moved it to the top of my reading pile when I learned that Kristin Clark Venuti's sequel, The Butler Gets a Break, was coming out. I can't read the sequel if I haven't read the original! The cover hooked me, the characters were quirky and funny, and the storyline simple and fun.

The Bellweathers' butler, Tristan Benway, has been serving them, and their ancestors for just under 200 years, to fulfill an Oath of Fealty. Most of the book are excerpts taken directly from the butler's journal.

"The happy news is that the two hundred years are nearly up, and I will be free of this circus which masquerades as a household."

Even though Benway, the Bellweathers' butler, is planning his escape from the lighthouse, it doesn't take the reader long to realize that Benway is soft on these crazy kids. His complaints are justified, sure! The eldest girl hosts a troupe of circus performers, and their pet seal, in her bedroom; the eldest boy thinks a hungry endangered albino alligator is the ideal pet for a lighthouse; and the triplets...well...

"...it is an unfortunate fact that the triplets never communicate at a decibel below earsplitting unless they are Up to No Good."

..and they are often Up to No Good. Ah, yes, Kristin Clark Venuti loves to capitalize in Benway's journal, to emphasize his dislike for certain nuances of the Bellweather family. He counts down his finals days in the house, but finds the faults of the children charming, as does the reader. Still, even when he begins to doubt his plans to leave, Benway reminds himself:

"I only know that any action ever taken by any Bellweather family member has always, and will always, result in crisis"

Maybe it was the their-crisis-is-bigger-than-mine aspect that made this such a fun read for me!

I only have one criticism, which isn't really a negative when you see the big picture. While the content was fun and imaginative and appropriate for children, I felt a lot of the humor and vocabulary may be lost on younger children, and would go over better for the pre-teen set. No one understands sarcasm better than a twelve-year old.

Interestingly, this one criticism I have is the one thing I love about some of my favorite children's movies. Don't you just love going to see a movie with your kids, and there are little one-liners that are benign to the kids, but hilarious for the parents? There were a few times I felt that way about this book. So, if you're going to get this book for your Middle Grade reader, read it together!

Oh, and when you're finished go read Kristin Clark Venuti's Butler Tristan Benway's website - hilarious!

Leaving the Bellweathers is an imaginative and fun ride through the eccentric lives of the Bellweather family and their butler Benway. Entertaining and humorous throughout it will undoubtedly keep the attention of any middle-grader.

Venuti did a wonderful job of creating characters with individuality -- each was spirited in a odd but completely relatable way. The children in particular were socially conscious (though not as one would suspect) and well rounded in their beliefs. Educated, artistic and all around fun each brought something unique to the story. For example, in an interesting twist I found it ironic that Ninda was known for fighting persecution and injustice yet it was already prevalent in her own home with the Oath of Fealty Benway was required to live under.

All in all Leaving the Bellweathers is a whimsical tale that I would recommend to parents looking for an amusing story that demonstrates the power of dedication, family and ultimately individuality in a positive and interesting light.

The Bellweathers are a kooky family with wild, extravagant habits and interests.

The father is an inventor who hates noise (yet the house is full of it). The mother is obsessed with painting and re-painting the lighthouse they live in. Spider hates the sunlight and loves crazy animals. Ninda is someone who wants to Do Good and Help the Downtrodden. And, finally, you have the artistic, yet insane, triplets: Spike, Brick, and Sassy. With their butler, Tristan Benway, the Bellweathers find themselves harboring foreign circus folk, albino alligators, and making plans to steal the Mona Lisa.

LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS is one wacky book! It's also quite fun. There are moments in the story that might be slightly over the head of your average middle grader, but overall, I think they would enjoy the funny antics that this family gets up to...even if they are completely unrealistic in most senses.

One of the things that I found different and fun about this book was the end of every chapter. You get a look into the butler's journal. He looks back on what has happened in the lighthouse on the hill...as well as fondly thinking of his future when he is free of his servitude to the Bellweathers and can live in a Warm Place Far, Far Away.

Obviously, this book is full of good messages, though not preachy or annoyingly so. Some of these would be the love of family (even when not blood related), the importance of creativity, and the need to think of others and not just yourself.

This was a fun book overall. I think it would be much more exciting for someone of a younger age, and it's certain to be one that could produce crazy sequels!

Reviewed by: Lauren Ashley

Simply wonderful and whimsical. I heard an excellent comparison: like Lemony Snickett's "Series of Unfortunate Events" meets "The Adam's Family." Recommended for anyone with a whimsical imagination.

Having not read done much leisure reading in some time (only work-related journals) I thoroughly enjoyed this witty and entertaining tale of an (un)usual family, the Bellweathers. As a parent I could really relate to the story and characters. Overall it was good fun and a pleasure to read.

Absurd, hysterically funny, and impeccably well-written, Leaving the Bellweathers is the story of one butler, Tristan Benway, and the family in the lighthouse on the hill, whom he is bound to serve by an Oath of Fealty sworn by one Benway long deceased. But this oath will soon be expiring, and Benway has decided to write a tell-all book about the strange family: the mother who is constantly painting the walls, the inventor-father who accosts all doorbell-ringers by dropping things from the window, the artistic triplets who only speak VERY LOUDLY LIKE THIS unless they are Up to No Good, the bagpipe-playing daughter who takes up any cause she can find (and often invites them to dinner, and the son whose love for endangered animals that can kill you has recently brought an albino alligator into the house. There simply is nothing like LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS, and it is easily among the best middle grades of the past few years.