My First Review (on this blog)

Half Brother
By Kenneth Oppel
For thirteen years, Ben Tomlin was an only child. But all that changes when his mother brings home his new “baby brother” Zan - an eight-day-old chimpanzee.



This was the book I most recently finished reading, so I thought I'd review it first, seeing as it is freshest in my mind.


When I was younger I loved Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing series. I totally fell in love with it.
Let's just say my friends and I we bats in our game of make believe more than not.
Then, a couple years ago I was completely enchanted again by his Airborn series.
Oppel has a fantastic way of creating characters that children and teens can connect with.
Half Brother fits right in with his other works on my 'Books I Love' list.

Half Brother is about a boy who just turned 13, and his mother brings home a baby chimpanzee that they are suppose to love and raise as a - human - member of there family.
Seems rather far fetched, but I makes perfect sense, once you start reading and embrace the story.
It's 1973, and the world is ready for discovery.
Ben's father is a scientist, and this little chimp is part of an experiment to see if any other species can learn human language. It's already been stated that Chimps do not have the muscles to create human sounds, so the plan is to teach Zan American Sign Language.
At first Ben is not too impressed about this new member of the family. But things slowly change and you end up falling in love with this baby right along with Ben.

I love the relationship and bond we see form between Ben and his baby brother. I feel like Ben has a more open and caring view of the world than those around him, involved with the experiment.
Being younger he has a clearer, unhindered take on whats going on. He's more intune with himself, and in turn, is able to understand and see Zan in a clearer light.

I think this book is a gentle coming of age story. It doesn't jolt you into reality, but it turns your thoughts to what love is, what it means to be human, and what family really means and who that includes for you.

I'll be honest, I did cry a bit at the end, but I was expecting to...
It's an animal story, animal stories always make me cry.


Something that I find exciting is, out of the blue, Kenneth Oppel(the real deal) added me on facebook. I'm not entirely sure why, or how he picked me... but I found a friend request patiently waiting for me to except.
Let me clarify.
I didn't add him first, he added me.
I'm not sure how he found I was a fan... but he did and now I can say I have him as a friend on facebook.
That is my claim to fame, and I'm sticking with it.