A guide to Newfoundland sayings prefaces this middle grade mystery set in a small coastal town in the Canadian province. Benny is an eleven-year-old b’y (that’s Newfoundland slang for “buddy,” among other things) who has mosaic Down syndrome and is transitioning to a mainstream classroom after spending his entire school career in special education. Benny lives with his widowed mother (both are white) in a large old house that doubles as a retirement home that she runs called Starflower by the Sea. Benny’s best friend is an 86-year-old man named Mr. Tom, whom Benny assists in fixing up old machines and vehicles. Mr. Tom is hopeful that Benny will make friends his own age, but Benny is doubtful based on the teasing and prejudice he experiences. Benny finds that he is not the lone new kid—an American transfer student from Seattle has moved to town. Salma is a city girl who is quickly treated like an outsider in the small island community, especially because she is Tunisian American and speaks some Arabic. Benny and Salma become friends with mutual bullies and team up to solve a mystery of stolen jewelry at the Starflower—Benny with his ability to piece things together and Salma with her tech skills. While not all aspects of the plot are believable, the budding friendship between Benny and Salma and the kindred connection between Benny and Mr. Tom buoy this bucolic whodunnit.

Two starred reviews!
A New York Public Library Best Kids Book of 2025
A School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book of 2025

A boy with Mosaic Down syndrome navigates entering a mainstream classroom, making new friends, and standing up to bullies all while trying to catch a thief and save his home in this “suspenseful, emotional” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade mystery from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Wesley King.

Benny isn’t your average boy from Newfoundland. He lives in a retirement home that his mother runs, he has an eighty-six-year-old best friend named Mr. Tom, he knows more about fixing boats than video games, and he has Mosaic Down syndrome. When Benny transitions to a mainstream classroom for the first time, the other students tease him for his differences…except for Salma. She’s new, too, and not your typical Newfoundland girl: she’s tech savvy, speaks Arabic, plays basketball, and isn’t afraid to eat lunch with Benny.

So when Salma’s grandmother and several other residents in the retirement home are robbed, Benny asks Salma to help him catch the thief. Time is not on their side as an inspector threatens to close the home. And to make matters worse, Benny and Salma must crack the case while working on a class assignment with their bullies. Can Benny save his home and take a stand against the bullies once and for all? He’s about to find out, b’ys.