7.16.2009

#39. Summer of the Monkeys

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If I had kept this monkey trouble to myself, I don't think it would have amounted to much; but I got my grandpa mixed up in it. I felt pretty bad about that because Grandpa was my pal, and all he was trying to do was help me.

Author: Wilson Rawls

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee, roaming his parents' farm in the Ozark mountains, comes across a troop of monkeys that have run away from a wrecked circus train. When Jay Berry learns that a large reward is offered for the monkeys, he decides to capture them and return them to the circus so he can make enough money to buy a pony and gun. The monkeys are more interested in taunting Jay Berry than being caught, however, and then Jay Berry has to decide whether to pursue his dream or whether something else might be more important.

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My family read books aloud in the evenings when my sisters and I were young, and this was one. After that, I read it several more times. I'm not sure where the family copy went, but will likely find it and read it again someday.

Wilson Rawls is perhaps better known for Where the Red Fern Grows, but Summer of the Monkeys is a likewise touching story with more humor and a happier ending.

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