A review by margotcolville
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I read this book as a child; I loved it then and I loved re-reading it! A tender, yet lighthearted exploration of what it means to feel and be alone, found family, teamwork, and courage. However!! Bad news bears, the ableist concepts are ~painful~ and unnecessary. 

When we first meet Mr. Curtain, resident evil man, the first thing we learn about him is that he's in a wheelchair. In fact, we learn this before we even meet him, "For a long expectant pause, they heard nothing except a sort of distant whine, but the whine grew louder by the moment, giving way to a tremendous grind and screech...and into the room shot a man in a motorized wheelchair, moving so quickly and with such apparent recklessness that every child in the room scooted backward in fear of being struck." This wheelchair serves as the distinction between benevolent (and able-bodied) twin Mr. Benedict, and evil (and apparently disabled) twin Mr. Curtain. Uh oh. Throughout the remainder of the story, Mr. Curtain's chair continues to build the idea of evil surrounding Mr. Curtain as he chases children down and rams through doors in his motorized wheelchair. The chair itself is even described as wicked at least once.
 

Here's the big, BiG, BIG problem with this, especially as a middle-grade novel. He is the only character throughout the entire story who uses a mobility device and it is an active symbol for his evilness. "The deformed body giving face to the deformed heart" (Amanda Leduc, Disfigured). When this is part of minimal exposure a child has to disability, which is by far the average if not above average experience in America, that generalizes with or without the child realizing it. So, when they go to school and have a new classmate that uses a wheelchair, for example, they associate that child and their wheelchair with Mr. Curtain, how he used his chair, how his chair was described, and his status as the villain. 
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