Do You Know The Monkey Man? [Hardcover]

Dori Hillestad Butler (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

FOR THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD SAMANTHA, life consists of too many unanswered questions. Why has her father not tried to contact her all these years? How could he have allowed her twin sister to drown in Clearwater Quarry when they were only toddlers? And how can Samantha's mother expect her to accept some man she hardly knows as her new father? Samantha already has a father out there. Somewhere. A fateful decision sets into motion a chain of events and confrontations that will change Samantha's and her family's lives forever. As she sets out to find her father and discover what really happened the day her sister was presumed drowned, she uncovers painful secrets that threaten to destroy her family all over again. Readers will be drawn into Dori Butler's dramatic, suspenseful, and sensitive story of one family's crisis unwittingly brought on by an adolescent girl's search for the truth.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Samantha was three when her twin sister drowned in the local Iowa quarry and her father left. Now 13, she is determined to investigate the past, because her mother refuses to talk about it. Best friend Angela, not all that happy with her own absentee father, can't see what the big deal is, but is willing to help her in her investigation. Despite the fact that Sam and Angela defy parental authority, cross state lines, navigate public transport, and convince more than one person that the impossible is possible, there's not much detecting going on. The clues fall into Sam's lap. Searching into the past is not an unusual plot in children's books. Still, Butler has a simplicity of narrative voice that makes the story easy to read while reflecting the often-complex emotions of children forced to deal with things that have long been buried. It is the way that the author conveys these emotions that provides the most lingering memories of this fast-paced suspense novel.–Carol A. Edwards, Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. When Samantha was three years old, her twin, Sarah, drowned in a local quarry while canoeing with their father. The grief rocked her parents' already tenuous marriage. Her mother and father divorced, and Samantha, now 13, hasn't seen or heard from her dad in 10 years--with the exception of a postcard picturing a monkey from the San Diego Zoo. After trying various methods to find her father, Samantha and a friend visit a psychic, but Sam comes away confused by the psychic's revelation that her sister isn't dead. Sam's pursuit for the truth, which includes an Internet people search, leads her from her Clearwater, Iowa, home to Minnesota, where she finds her answers. The healing comes a little too easily in the end, but middle-graders looking for a simple mystery will be pleased, and the story may inspire them to think about the concepts of identity and family that are threaded through the story. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 193 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (March 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561453404
• ISBN-13: 978-1561453405
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dori Hillestad Butler has always wanted to be an author. She wrote her first novel when she was in sixth grade. She wrote it to find out if she could write a novel, and because she needed extra credit in her English class. Her dream of becoming a published author came true in 1997, with the publication of The Great Tooth Fairy Rip-Off. She's gone on to publish more than 35 additional books for children.

Her books have been appeared on children's choice award lists in 18 different states. Trading Places with Tank Talbott won the Maryland Children's Choice Award in 2007. And The Buddy Files: Case of the Lost Boy won the 2011 Edgar Award for best Juvenile Mystery.

Dori has also been a ghostwriter for the Sweet Valley Twins, Unicorn Club and Boxcar Children series, and a children's book reviewer for several publications. She's published numerous short stories, plays and educational materials, and has served as the Iowa Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators' Regional Advisor.

She grew up in southern Minnesota and now lives in Coralville, Iowa with her husband, son, dog and cat. She visits schools and leads writing workshops all over the country.

For more information, visit her website at www.kidswriter.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IS MY SISTER ALIVE?, December 3, 2006

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Do You Know The Monkey Man? (Hardcover)

13-year-old Samantha Wright hasn't seen her dad since she was 3 because of a bitter divorce but lately she's been wanting to contact him and see what kind of man he is. But her mom doesn't ever want to talk about the subject because the reason they got divorced was that Sam's twin sister Sarah drowned in a boating accident with her father. Her mother never forgave her husband and cut off any relations with him. But Sam is so desperate that she and her best friend, Angela, resort to paying a psychic to see if she can figure out where her father is. The answer that the fortune teller gives comes as quite a shock. She can't see where her father is, but she does tell Sam her sister is still alive! Sam must now use her own ingenuity to figure out where her dad is and whether Sarah is still alive!

Butler does a real good job of creating an atmosphere of suspense in Monkey Man and I found myself not wanting to put the book down until the whole mystery was revealed. The characterization was decent, especially with Sam, a girl that doesn't want to give up hope about Sarah because she functions with her heart which tells her that her sister is still alive somewhere. You also care about Butler's characters and you hope that things will work out in the hopelessly messed up situation they find themselves in. The ending is a little hokey and far fetched but makes sense in the context of the work. This is a good read for young adults and older readers too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Book, May 2, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Do You Know The Monkey Man? (Hardcover)

The Book Do You the Monkey Man was the best book I have ever read. This book is a very suspenseful book, it also kept me reading on. Once I got finished reading this book I was very shocked by what had happened. Sam's always wondered where her dad and sister are. Once you red this book you will find out everything. This book was a very good book to read. I would recommend it to all adults and teens. The author uses many deatils in this book to show you everythintg that has happened.
Once you read this book you will not put it down. The whole book is shocking from the beginning to the end.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MYSTERY THAT CHILDREN WILL LEARN FROM ... and enjoy!, September 13, 2005

By 

Betty L. Dravis "BETTY DRAVIS, author/reviewer" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do You Know The Monkey Man? (Hardcover)

When Samantha's father disappears after a tragic family accident, our heroine doesn't see or hear from him for ten years, except for one postcard picturing a monkey from the San Diego Zoo. With this single clue, the search for the truth and for her father begins ... and she can finally heal from the emotional trauma.
A good, simple mystery that kids can relate to ... and learn from.
Highly recommended.