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A review by beths0103
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
5.0
I've never read a YA book like this before. It is by far one of the best books of 2010.
At 13, Ben Tomlin has been an only child his whole life. But then his father decides to uproot their small family from Toronto to Victoria to begin an experiment on whether chimpanzees can acquire language, he is at first skeptical. Living with the family from the time he was eight days old, Zan quickly becomes a member of the family - to Ben and his mother anyway. Ben's father merely sees him as an experimental test subject, causing much animosity in the house.
I have enjoyed Kenneth Oppel's work in the past, and Half Brother is definitely his most important book to date. It deals with some tough questions on animal experimentation, and in perfect cadence, leaves us with more questions than answers. This book is meant to be a discussion; it doesn't claim to have all the answers.
At 13, Ben Tomlin has been an only child his whole life. But then his father decides to uproot their small family from Toronto to Victoria to begin an experiment on whether chimpanzees can acquire language, he is at first skeptical. Living with the family from the time he was eight days old, Zan quickly becomes a member of the family - to Ben and his mother anyway. Ben's father merely sees him as an experimental test subject, causing much animosity in the house.
I have enjoyed Kenneth Oppel's work in the past, and Half Brother is definitely his most important book to date. It deals with some tough questions on animal experimentation, and in perfect cadence, leaves us with more questions than answers. This book is meant to be a discussion; it doesn't claim to have all the answers.