For children who feel like outsiders and dream of making a difference, this story explores justice, friendship, and unexpected magic to overcome school challenges.
Parents might reach for this book when their child feels like an outsider at school, especially due to social or economic differences. The story follows Wilfred Malachey, a scholarship student at a wealthy boarding school, who feels intense pressure to fit in. He embarks on a modern Robin Hood scheme to help himself and his less fortunate friends, but things get complicated when he discovers a genie in the school computer. This book tackles themes of justice, friendship, and belonging, blending a realistic school setting with a magical twist. It's a great choice for opening conversations about fairness, ethics, and using ingenuity to solve problems.
The central theme is the moral ambiguity of theft, even when done with good intentions. This is explored directly through Wilfred's actions and rationalizations. The resolution is hopeful: Wilfred learns a valuable lesson about integrity and true friendship, but the book avoids providing simplistic answers to complex ethical questions. The approach is secular and character-driven.
Ideal Reader
A 9 to 12-year-old who is beginning to think about complex social issues like fairness and wealth inequality. This child likely enjoys school stories, feels a kinship with underdog characters, and appreciates a blend of realistic problems with a surprising touch of fantasy.
Parent Prep
A post-reading conversation about the ethics of Wilfred's choices is highly recommended. Parents may want to preview the parts where Wilfred justifies his stealing to himself and his friends. The book can be read cold, but its value is magnified by a discussion of its central moral dilemma: do the ends justify the means? The parent has heard their child complaining that "it's not fair" that other kids have more, or perhaps the child has justified a questionable act (like lying or taking something small) by claiming it was to help someone else.
Age Experience
Younger readers (8-9) will likely focus on the adventure: the secret club, the clever schemes, and the magic of a computer genie. Older readers (10-12) will be more capable of grasping the moral complexity, the social commentary, and Wilfred's internal struggle between right, wrong, and rationalization.
What Makes It Special
This book's uniqueness comes from its 1985 setting, which treats a school computer as a mysterious, almost magical object capable of housing a genie. This blend of an old-fashioned boarding school story with nascent computer-age fantasy is distinctive. Additionally, the sophisticated prose and witty, philosophical tone, characteristic of author William F. Buckley Jr., offers a more challenging read than typical middle-grade fare.
Read plot summary
Wilfred Malachey, a boy from a poor background attending a wealthy private school on scholarship, feels like an outsider. To help his friends and gain social standing, he organizes a "Robin Hood" style operation, stealing small, unmissed items from rich students and selling them. His scheme becomes unexpectedly complicated when he discovers and releases a genie from the school's new mainframe computer, forcing him to confront much bigger temptations and moral choices.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.
Discussion Prompts
1
Wilfred called his plan a 'Robin Hood' operation. Do you think what he did was right, wrong, or somewhere in between? Why?
2
When the genie offers Wilfred anything he wants, why do his problems seem to get bigger instead of smaller?
3
How did Wilfred's friendships change from the beginning of the story, when he was stealing 'for' his friends, to the end?
4
The genie in this story comes from a computer. How is that different from a genie in a magic lamp? Does technology today ever feel like magic to you?
