The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, by Leslie Connor



Mason Buttle is a very tall, dyslexic teen who also suffers from hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating disorder) and is bullied a lot at school. This book follows Mason as he unknowingly embarks on a journey with his new best friend Calvin Chumsky to solve the greatest mystery in the neighborhood – the death of Benny Kilmartin, ex-best-friend of Mason.

A bully writes ‘STOOPID’ on a shirt and stuffs it inside Mason’s school locker. That’s the premise of this wonderful story. In the first chapter itself, we learn a lot about Mason – he’s dyslexic and he sweats a lot. As we progress through the book, we find out about the one and only safe-haven in Mason’s school where he won’t get bullied – the SWOOF. Ms. Blinny, a clumsy lady who works in the SWOOF, is introduced as one of the very few people who are there for Mason, no matter what. The SWOOF not only provides safety to Mason, it introduces him to Calvin Chumsky, a short kid who becomes Mason’s new best friend, and the Dragon, a computer program which turns speech to text. Although Mason can’t read, he can at least write.

Over the course of this book, we meet various characters. Matt Drinker and Lance Pierson are portrayed as the antagonists of this story. They bully Mason and Calvin a lot. Then there’s Mason’s Uncle and Grandma. They’re sweet people who love Mason more than anything. There’s Shayleen, who does nothing apart from occupy space and spend money. And then there’s the lieutenant, hell-bent on finding out who killed Benny. He refuses to believe that Benny slipped, and instead thinks that Mason is responsible for Benny’s death.

The majority of this book follows Mason, Calvin and Moonie (the Drinkers’ dog) on their adventures together. It’s fun reading how they recreate the Caves of Lascaux in the root cellar, how Moonie almost always finds a way to go to Mason and join him, and all the other adventures that they embark on.

The ending to this book is fantastic and unexpected. The case of Benny Kilmartin’s death is solved, and Mason lives happily ever after. The one and only flaw to this book that I found is that Mason doesn’t seem to have a lot of emotion for Benny. Sure, he’s in grief and all, but it would be nice to see Mason show a little bit more emotion and feelings for someone who was purportedly once his best friend.
9/10, a solid book for children.

PS:- Got this book from Ms. Nobonita Chowdhury as part of an ARC circulation initiative. Click here to visit her blog!

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