Half Brother

Name: Half Brother
Brand: Brilliance Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Author: Kenneth Oppel
ISBN: 9781441871534

Author: Kenneth Oppel

Narrator: Daniel di Tomasso

Unabridged: 7 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Published: 09/01/2010

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes

Synopsis

For thirteen years, Ben Tomlin was an only child. But all that changes when his mother brings home Zan — an eight-day-old chimpanzee. Ben’s father, a renowned behavioral scientist, has uprooted the family to pursue his latest research project: a high-profile experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can acquire advanced language skills. Ben’s parents tell him to treat Zan like a little brother. Ben reluctantly agrees. At least now he’s not the only one his father’s going to scrutinize.It isn’t long before Ben is Zan’s favorite, and Ben starts to see Zan as more than just an experiment. His father disagrees. Soon Ben is forced to make a critical choice between what he is told to believe and what he knows to be true — between obeying his father or protecting his brother from an unimaginable fate.Half Brother isn’t just a story about a boy and a chimp. It’s about the way families are made, the way humanity is judged, the way easy choices become hard ones, and how you can’t always do right by the people and animals you love. In the hands of master storyteller Kenneth Oppel, it’s a novel you won’t soon forget.

About Kenneth Oppel

KENNETH OPPEL’s first novel was published when he was eighteen years old. Since then, he was won extraordinary acclaim for his imaginative works, including the Silverwing trilogy and the Airborn series. The novel Airborn won both a Printz Honor and the Governor General’s Award.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kara on March 25, 2012

Our capacity for language is one of the attributes often cited as what makes humans so distinct from other animals. It’s a controversial distinction, because we’ve observed other species communicate in very interesting and effective ways: whales sing, dolphins whistle, birds do whatever it is they d......more

Goodreads review by Viktorija| on August 11, 2023

Benui su šeima tenka kraustytis į naujus namus, o juose kelių dienų bėgyje pamini ne tik savo tryliktąjį gimtadienį..., bet šeimoje atsiranda ir naujas narys - visai mažylis šimpazė Zanas. Ši knyga ne tik apie mokslininkų šeimą, apie mokslinį subjektą Zaną, bet ir apie paauglį ir jo pritapimą naujoje......more

Goodreads review by Hailey on March 09, 2018

So this book wasn't my favorite but I still really liked it. I liked how the mom surprised Ben with a chimp and at first he hated the chimp but as the book went on and as been got to know Zan (the chimp). Ben's mom and dad where scientists and they where doing an experiment about how chimps can lear......more

Goodreads review by Lily on February 11, 2016

This book is about a boy named Ben who is a son of a scientist. His dad tries to do an experiment where chimps communicate with humans. He thinks of doing this by teaching a chimp ASL. Ben at first wasn't happy when his mom brought a chimp. But later on he started to love the chimp no matter what an......more

Goodreads review by Raina on March 18, 2016

Great historical fiction with a local angle (Victoria is a great weekend destination for my area), and a cool scientific/animal hook. Booktalked this as part of my 2016 middle school sweep and it was a runaway hit. This was an example of a book where I rewrote my booktalk to great success. My first ve......more