My kids have joined a new school where reading expectations are a bit more sophisticated than they’ve been used to. Even after all the many, many books we’ve read together, both kids have felt like they’ve jumped into the deep end—and I’m glad they’ve taken the leap!
In his first 6 weeks, my 9th grader has read both To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) and Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (1948). He completed the assignments for both, but he hasn’t loved either. I have my own opinions about force-feeding kids literature, but I’ll save those views for another day.
My 7th grader has been assigned Ashes in the Snow by Ruta Sepetys (2011) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886). She read halfway through the more dated text of Dr. Jekyll and told me she couldn’t understand much of what was going on. She asked if I could help.
Rather than read the novel on my own and get back to her, I chose instead to go back to the beginning and read it aloud to her—for both of our benefits. I’m so glad I did, because, while I’ve forever known the story of this classic mystery, I’d never read the book for myself.
A Summary of the Strange Case
The story comes from the point of view of Mr. Utterson, a lawyer in London fond of socializing with his varied male colleagues, though generally keeping his nose out of other peoples’ affairs. When he stumbles upon an ugly building during one his late-night walk with a friend, there unravels the story of the disturbing dwarf of a man called Mr. Hyde who exudes and unnatural aura of evil.
Later, Utterson learns that the property of his friend and client, the honorable Dr. Jekyll, butts against Mr. Hyde’s building from another street away. He also learns that Dr. Jekyll has a strange, mother-hen protector instinct towards that vile Mr. Hyde, though he will not say why or how.
As various bodies start dropping and Dr. Jekyll’s demeanor plummets from joyful socialite to depressed hermit, Mr. Utterson seeks to help in any way possible. When Jekyll disappears, Utterson is convinced that Hyde has murdered him and will stop at nothing to see the man brought to justice.
The final two chapters of the book include details confessions from two parties about what mystery is truly afoot, and Utterson is left to clean up the whole sordid mess.
Some Takeaways
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is truly a fascinating story, and while foreknowledge of the mystery certainly detracts from the suspense, I still found it a highly enjoyable read. As the one reading it aloud, I especially appreciated the fact that there were but 5-6 recurring characters, all men, and each with a personality distinct enough for me to create his own voice and accent. This kept my daughter (12) fully engaged in the dialogue of the story.
Occasionally, I had to stop and recap what had just happened. Even more occasionally, I had to define a word, though for most of the words that were likely unfamiliar to her, I simply soldiered on through the text. Although she might not have been able to repeat the scenes with the same vernacular as Stevenson’s, she certainly was able to grasp the general meaning and tell me in her own words what she had heard. This is the power of reading aloud—as Jim Trelease makes clear in his awesome book, The Read-Aloud Handbook (2013).
This novel contains multiple murders and many instances of “good Lord!” and other such phrases. I skipped over those as I read aloud, though I’d be interested to learn how the kids’ Christian school teachers deal with these things in class. I’m not holding out much hope to learn that info from my daughter though!
Conclusion
This was an excellent mystery, though I don’t think it’s the best fare as a nighttime story for a 12yo! Nevertheless, it’s a classic that enthralled me, and I’m glad I took the time to walk my daughter through it. I’d love to do the same with other books on their dockets, but the teacher’s goal is to get the kids reading on their own and reading more. I hope their future assignments also push them towards loving to read more challenging literature—but we’ll have to see about that.
©2025 E.T.