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Beloved Benjamin Is Waiting
Hounded by a gang of kids after her mother's disappearance leaves her on her own, Lucinda hides in the abandoned caretaker's house in the local cemetery where she makes contact with intelligent beings from another galaxy.
124 pages, School & Library Binding
Published January 1, 1980
76 people want to read
About the author
Jean E. Karl
8 books6 followersJean Edna Karl was an American book editor and writer who specialized in children's and science fiction titles. She founded and led the children's division and young adult and science fiction imprints at Atheneum Books.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 24, 2012
As a kid, I had this book memorized cover-to-cover. I got it from my school library and checked it out so many times that I somehow started to actually believe it was mine. I would see somebody else walking around with it and want to snatch it away from them. I was convinced that the Other Borrower couldn't possibly appreciate Lucinda and Benjamin's story as much as I did. When I had a middle grade aged daughter, I bought this long out-of-print book on E-Bay. It's kind of a silly story, now that I read it as an adult, but still, I have fond memories of it. This particular book got me through a very rough period in my life and for that I will always be grateful.
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March 20, 2008I loved this book when I was a kid. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember that the main character goes to the cemetery (awesome) and then a tombstone starts talking to her (super awesome) but then I think it turns out to be an alien (from out of space, not the foreign kind) speaking to her through the stone...which is not as cool, but is still okay. I think I'll find and re-read this book.
May 2, 2017
This was an odd combination of science fiction and a missing child book. I loved it! I wish she'd written more!
May 4, 2022
Beloved Benjamin is Waiting by Jean E. Karl
Beloved Benjamin is Waiting is the story of eleven-year-old Lucinda Gratz. Lucinda is the youngest of four children in an abusive household. Lucinda’s older siblings all live away from home, including the black sheep of the family, Dean, who has been sent to a juvenile reform school. Evidently, because Dean told the authorities about the activities of other members of his gang, those young delinquents have decided to seek revenge by harassing Lucinda.
Lucinda has to decide where she can hide when the gang comes looking for her or when her parents’ fights get out of control. The best idea she can come up with is the cemetery across the street. Although people cannot come and go at will, there is a small forgotten gate in a side street that Lucinda is just small enough to squeeze through, and inside she finds an abandoned caretaker’s lodge (used as a storage place for broken tombstones and their decorations) that can provide her with shelter. The house is dusty and dirty, but has a bedroom with a bed in it. Lucinda gradually transports everyday necessities to the old house, and is eventually forced to abandon her real home altogether when her mother suddenly announces she is going away for a while and the danger from the gang members therefore intensifies. Lucinda wisely realizes that she cannot remain at home alone with no one to protect her.
Lucinda befriends the main security guard, Mr. Simon, originally in order to learn about the security at the cemetery and the chances of being discovered in the old caretaker’s house. To add to her credibility, she decides to write a history paper about the cemetery for school, which provides her with a legitimate reason for frequent visits and permission to roam the grounds freely in the daytime. What she learns kindles in her a genuine interest in the local history of the graveyard and the lives of people who lived in the past.
At the same time, strange things begin happening in the old house where she has surreptitiously set up home. As a rational and non-superstitious young person, Lucinda rejects the possibility of ghosts, only to discover that what is trying to make contact with her is equally or even more fantastic. Lucinda tries her best to provide the information that the entity requires, and in the process broadens her own horizons and understanding of life.
It should be mentioned that the alien storyline is secondary to the main narrative and very understated. At its core, this is a somewhat melancholy book about an unhappy but highly intelligent and resourceful young girl who has been abandoned by her parents and is looking for understanding from others and a direction in her life. The need to understand the cemetery and her desire to help the aliens leads her to become more curious about both her local surroundings and the boundless universe beyond the earth.
One of the strongest points of this book is its pacing, and the way that tension is maintained throughout. The science-fiction plotline is not even introduced until just over halfway through the story. That might seem odd, but it works well, since the reader can really get settled into Lucinda’s world and see things through her eyes before major events begin to occur.
In conclusion, this is an excellent adventure story which evokes a sense of wonder in the best tradition of children’s literature.
Following are a few quotes from the book:
Besides, if she had to do it, she could. You could always do what you absolutely had to do. So there was no point in getting upset in advance.
But it was hard to think about. Millions of suns in the Milky Way. And millions of Milky Ways. It made her feel small. And yet it made her feel big, too, because in her mind she could hold such a big idea.
“Get your thoughts away from the situation. Maybe then your mind will show you new things, things your fear now hides from you.”
She quickly laid out all the possibilities; there weren’t many. And then out of the mists in her mind, the answer came: the only thing she could do. It was doing what she had to do, but doing it in a way that would work for her, that would make it possible for her to do it.
“But after the first day, I came because I wanted to—because I liked to talk to you and I liked to see the cemetery. It’s something from another time, isn’t it, Mr. Simon? When people were different and things were easier.”
Beloved Benjamin is Waiting is the story of eleven-year-old Lucinda Gratz. Lucinda is the youngest of four children in an abusive household. Lucinda’s older siblings all live away from home, including the black sheep of the family, Dean, who has been sent to a juvenile reform school. Evidently, because Dean told the authorities about the activities of other members of his gang, those young delinquents have decided to seek revenge by harassing Lucinda.
Lucinda has to decide where she can hide when the gang comes looking for her or when her parents’ fights get out of control. The best idea she can come up with is the cemetery across the street. Although people cannot come and go at will, there is a small forgotten gate in a side street that Lucinda is just small enough to squeeze through, and inside she finds an abandoned caretaker’s lodge (used as a storage place for broken tombstones and their decorations) that can provide her with shelter. The house is dusty and dirty, but has a bedroom with a bed in it. Lucinda gradually transports everyday necessities to the old house, and is eventually forced to abandon her real home altogether when her mother suddenly announces she is going away for a while and the danger from the gang members therefore intensifies. Lucinda wisely realizes that she cannot remain at home alone with no one to protect her.
Lucinda befriends the main security guard, Mr. Simon, originally in order to learn about the security at the cemetery and the chances of being discovered in the old caretaker’s house. To add to her credibility, she decides to write a history paper about the cemetery for school, which provides her with a legitimate reason for frequent visits and permission to roam the grounds freely in the daytime. What she learns kindles in her a genuine interest in the local history of the graveyard and the lives of people who lived in the past.
At the same time, strange things begin happening in the old house where she has surreptitiously set up home. As a rational and non-superstitious young person, Lucinda rejects the possibility of ghosts, only to discover that what is trying to make contact with her is equally or even more fantastic. Lucinda tries her best to provide the information that the entity requires, and in the process broadens her own horizons and understanding of life.
It should be mentioned that the alien storyline is secondary to the main narrative and very understated. At its core, this is a somewhat melancholy book about an unhappy but highly intelligent and resourceful young girl who has been abandoned by her parents and is looking for understanding from others and a direction in her life. The need to understand the cemetery and her desire to help the aliens leads her to become more curious about both her local surroundings and the boundless universe beyond the earth.
One of the strongest points of this book is its pacing, and the way that tension is maintained throughout. The science-fiction plotline is not even introduced until just over halfway through the story. That might seem odd, but it works well, since the reader can really get settled into Lucinda’s world and see things through her eyes before major events begin to occur.
In conclusion, this is an excellent adventure story which evokes a sense of wonder in the best tradition of children’s literature.
Following are a few quotes from the book:
Besides, if she had to do it, she could. You could always do what you absolutely had to do. So there was no point in getting upset in advance.
But it was hard to think about. Millions of suns in the Milky Way. And millions of Milky Ways. It made her feel small. And yet it made her feel big, too, because in her mind she could hold such a big idea.
“Get your thoughts away from the situation. Maybe then your mind will show you new things, things your fear now hides from you.”
She quickly laid out all the possibilities; there weren’t many. And then out of the mists in her mind, the answer came: the only thing she could do. It was doing what she had to do, but doing it in a way that would work for her, that would make it possible for her to do it.
“But after the first day, I came because I wanted to—because I liked to talk to you and I liked to see the cemetery. It’s something from another time, isn’t it, Mr. Simon? When people were different and things were easier.”
June 25, 2017
I read this as a child because I adored and re-read many times The Turning Place: Stories of a Future Past. But this book by the same author, even though I loved the premise, was such an unbelievable letdown: A bullied kid! running and hiding! interacting with aliens! from outer space! too cool! --except, it wasn't cool at all. I kept waiting for the cool to happen. I did finish it, and I didn't cry, but I was so unbelievably bummed.
October 6, 2018
This book follows Lucinda and her home life getting worse and worse. She finds a haven in an abandoned caretakers house and confined in a statue of Benjamin. Soon they are friends and Lucinda's only place she feels safe is the cemetery.
August 23, 2019
I'm pretty sure I read this because the previous year I had read "But We are Not of Earth" by the same author and really enjoyed it. I'd kind of forgotten Jean E. Karl, but after looking through my journals from 1985-86, apparently I was a fan.
July 11, 2020
I loved this book as a kid, but now that I look back on it, it was pretty weird.
June 18, 2024
I thought I was reading a ghost story, but was disappointed. I'm glad I read it before recommending it to students who were wanting a good ghost story.
July 8, 2013
I first read this book in grammar school. I loved it so much that I constantly took it out of the library and reread it. Since I couldn't find it in a bookstore to purchase it (this was well before Amazon), I actually used a copier to copy the entire book!
I have since purchased a used copy of my own (originally sold for $1.50 - that's so cute!) and still reread it and still love it. This book really makes you appreciate all you have in your life, puts your problems in perspective, and encourages you to look beyond your own little world, all through a couple of weeks in one 6th grade girl's life. I HIGHLY recommend it.
I have since purchased a used copy of my own (originally sold for $1.50 - that's so cute!) and still reread it and still love it. This book really makes you appreciate all you have in your life, puts your problems in perspective, and encourages you to look beyond your own little world, all through a couple of weeks in one 6th grade girl's life. I HIGHLY recommend it.
December 23, 2009
Another re-read from my adolescence, and reviewed on my blog. A great read about a little girl abandoned by her family, with a little sci-fi twist.
The best part is how gradually the sci-fi element was introduced, so that by the time we got to it, it seemed completely believable.
The best part is how gradually the sci-fi element was introduced, so that by the time we got to it, it seemed completely believable.
October 5, 2009
Weird, unexpected science fiction element of it did not impress me at all.
November 14, 2012
what a beautiful little girl, Lu. I couldn't put the book down.
I loved it.
I loved it.
December 5, 2014
This is one of the few books I've kept from my childhood. Good memories just seeing the cover again.
July 25, 2015
my all time childhood favorite.
September 1, 2015
A strange young adult novel that Neil Gaiman must surely have read.
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August 16, 2018I read this when I was a kid in elementary school, I remember I really liked it, I read it several times.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews