Life was simple for Jay Berry growing up in rural Oklahoma back around the turn of the century. He helped with the farm and when he wasn't needed, he went exploring in the wilderness. Some days he would go to the store his grandparents own in town. Those are special times between a boy and his grandpa and there are usually treats to bring home to share with his sister. One early summer day though as he is wondering around in the bottoms he finds an animal that he has never seen before and one that doesn't seem to belong in the area. As he recounts the details to his grandfather later that day, he finds out that it is indeed a monkey as he had suspected. A troupe had escaped when the circus train had derailed and now there is a reward for their capture. $2/ea for the little monkeys like what Jay Berry had seen but $100 for the special one. Jay Berry has had his heart set on a rifle and a pony and this seems like the answer to his dream. But capturing monkeys is so much harder than Jay Berry had ever imagined and his dream could fall away before it's ever realized.
A simple story about a more innocent time (cliche but true), a boy and his dream but also about his growing up and maturing a little bit as well. Well written, humorous to keep it from being too heavy handed (although as an adult it was pretty easy to see how it was going to turn out) and poignant too. I will admit, I bought it for my now 16yr old who loved monkeys because I had seen it on many children's classics lists but really had no idea what it was all about but thought he would enjoy it. He never read it and I don't think he would have really enjoyed it if he had because it was definitely not the book I thought it would have been, especially with the cover our copy has.
Page count: 280p/16,721p ytd/287,853p lifetime
No comments:
Post a Comment