Book Review: The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff

The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish, by Jason Lethcoe, was another book I chose to experience in the listening library form. The cover was reminiscent of Oliver Twist and I thought my boys might enjoy listening to this with me. I love the rhythm of the main character's name.

Benjamin is an orphan living at Ms. Pinch's Home for Wayward Boys, where, of course, his life is hard and he must clean out pots in the kitchen. He has even forgotten it is his birthday, until an old woman drops by with a small cake for him. Later that evening, he steals a piece of the cake, lights a candle and makes a dangerously clever birthday wish. Unfortunately, this wish sets in motion a deadly war between two ancient rivals, the Wishworks Factory and the Curseworks Factory.

This is definitely a book which will appeal to 9-12 year old boys. It has all the necessary ingredients: good vs. evil, an underdog hero, action, adventure, weaponry, flying chairs for transport, and monstrous creatures. I would love to see how a movie would portray the army of spider-monkeys from Curseworks and the battle action could be spectacular.

However, when I first began listening, I didn't think I would end up liking the book. At first, I thought my struggle was merely with the narrator chosen to deliver the reading. As I listened longer, I realized that primarily my struggle was with the setting chosen by the author. Given that the main character is an orphan living in horrible conditions in an orphanage, and given the narrator's British accent, I expected the story took place in Victorian England (one of my favorite periods). However, the story supposedly takes place in California in present times (yet all the characters have British or Scottish accents). I don't believe orphans end up in horrible orphanages here in the States these days. In fact, I'm pretty sure they end up in foster homes or well-run group homes, which emphasize goals and responsibility. In fact, I almost took a job at a group home of this sort in Rochelle, IL, several years ago. This choice of setting almost made me set the book aside. (I think the author could have pulled off the present time frame, if he had placed the character in a lousy foster home, instead of an orphanage).

But, once the action in the novel shifted to the magical world, I felt more at home with the book and the accents used to narrate it. In fact, the second half of the book was better than the first half. The realistic world wasn't very realistic, but the magical world was truly magical. I believe this is the first book of a pending series. I am hoping the rest of the books are set in the fantastical world of Wishworks and Curseworks.

I will probably pick this up again for my younger sons in 7 or 8 years, but I will read it aloud to them myself. My ES heard quite a bit of this one, but, alas, it "didn't entertain" him. Then again, you know how he is! In fact, I helped him type up another book report for school this weekend. In the final paragraph, he was supposed to tell whether or not he would recommend the book and why. I had to ask, "Do you ever say you WOULD recommend a book?" He said, "Well, I did one time. But, most of the books are just too boring."