LEAVING THE BELLWEATHERS

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 [Published: OCTOBER 2009]