a middle schooler's favorite book

Every year if you were to ask one of my students what their favorite book was, it would be a toss up between The Count of Monte Cristo and The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. And may I just say, that they have excellent taste, because these happen to be two of may favorite books too. But right now, we are entrenched in The Count of Monte Cristo and loving it. In fact, if all we did all day was read CMC (our affectionate nickname for the book) my kids would be totally content. For a group of kids who generally do not espouse a love of classic literature, this says a lot. I will never forget one student I had a few years ago who struggled with language arts getting so into the book that he came in one Monday morning and said, "Mrs. Freeman, I accidentally read ahead in The Count of Monte Cristo" (this being expressly forbidden since it becomes too hard for them not to give away the plot twists for their classmates).

"Oh really. How far ahead did you get?"

"A Hundred pages."

Accidentally reading ahead a hundred pages from a kid that does not normally enjoy reading is a pretty ringing endorsement if you ask me.

The book is about Edmond Dantés who is wrongfully accused of being a Bonapartist and is thrown in prison for 14 years. After his escape, Dantés takes on the role of Providence to punish those who took away his happiness and rewarding those who were good to him. It is a classic suspense and revenge story with tons of great twists and turns. In our reading just this week, the plot started to get really think so I made a character web to hopefully help everyone keep all the characters and their relationships straight.

It looks like a twisted mess and I love it! I can't wait to add more to it as we read. The blue ribbons represent the main characters' connections with Edmond Dantés and his aliases, and the white ribbons represent romantic attachments.

One of the best things about reading this book is showing them the movie afterward because they feel so jipped. Until I read the book, I like the movie, but so much is left out it is not even funny. The movie covers about 125 pages of the abridged version (535 pages) of the story that we read. Entire plot lines and characters are left out including my favorite: Monsieur Noirtier, the former Bonapartist who is paralyzed and can only communicate through blinking his eyes and yet his cunning and passion make him one of the most vivid, dynamic, and active characters in the book.

This year, one of my students came up with one of the most thoughtful insights about this book which has totally enhanced my reading of the text. In Bible a few weeks ago, we studied the story of Joseph, a man who seemed to have everything going for until a few people plotted his demise. From then on, Joseph is thrust into some extremely difficult circumstances over a period of many many years. One very astute kid observed that this was much like Dantés whose life was ruined thanks to a few scheming friends. Both face devastating circumstances and eventually become one of the most powerful men in the land. Like Dantés, Joseph is reunited with his brothers and even tricks them to get his younger brother and father to come to Egypt. But unlike Dantés, Joseph trusts God's sovereign hand over each situation and had an eternal vision for his life: "But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.' And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them" (Genesis 50:19-21). Dantés on the other hand, takes matters into his own hands enacting magnanimous generosity or cruel vengeance individually concocted for each of his friends. Slowly, we watch Dantés turn into a monster until he is introduced to forgiveness, mercy, and love. This striking contrast between these two Biblical and literary characters is so inspiring--and the fact that it came from a middle school kid makes it that much better!

Take a seventh or eighth grader's advice and read CMC; you won't regret it.