Ben's father can talk anyone into anything. He even made a cross-country road trip to their new house sound like fun. Now Ben's dad is trying to convince him that the baby chimpanzee his mom brought home is his brother. He says it's an important part of their research to treat him like a part of their family while they teach him sign language. Babysitting is no fun when your little brother is a mischievous chimp. Eventually though Ben finds himself convinced once again and grows to love his half brother Zan. But when his parents' experiment turns sour and they say that Zan is really just a test subject after all, Ben refuses to be convinced. For the first time in his life, he decides to fight back.
I love chimpanzees and watching Ben and Zan's relationship develop was fascinating. Oppel weaves the question of what it means to be a person throughout the book from the consequences of trying to make chimpanzees act like humans to consequences of treating humans like chimpanzees. While animal lovers will appreciate this book in particular, anyone looking for a good realistic fiction story about what it's like to be thirteen will enjoy it.
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Erica's Picks
6th-8th Grade
Tags: Animals, Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Issues Fiction
I love chimpanzees and watching Ben and Zan's relationship develop was fascinating. Oppel weaves the question of what it means to be a person throughout the book from the consequences of trying to make chimpanzees act like humans to consequences of treating humans like chimpanzees. While animal lovers will appreciate this book in particular, anyone looking for a good realistic fiction story about what it's like to be thirteen will enjoy it.
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Erica's Picks
6th-8th Grade
Tags: Animals, Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Issues Fiction
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