Center for Teaching & Learning

Ben Tomlin was an only child for thirteen years. Then his parents brought home a baby chimpanzee. The book Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel takes place in the mind of a thirteen-year-old boy named Ben Tomlin. His mother and father are both scientists and have finally been able to fund their experiment, which involves cross-fostering, where one species raises another. Ben’s parents wanted to cross-foster a chimpanzee named Zan, to see if he can learn ASL (American Sign Language), truly understand what we have in common with chimps, and to discover what makes us different.
The Tomlins teach Zan how to communicate using ASL: ‘up’, ‘drink’, ‘give’, ‘more’, ‘eat’, ‘you’, and ‘me’ becomes Zan’s vocabulary, and, before long, he is regularly signing to get what he desires. Ben sees Zan for who he really is, but Ben’s father, who is opposed to even giving Zan a name, almost never interacts with him and doesn’t want anything to do with him besides write down data. Ben’s mom is acting as Zan’s mother figure, and while she is kind and nurturing, she is also strict and stern.
As Zan grows in both size and strength, and the experiment becomes more difficult to maintain safely, the project begins to spiral out of control. At this point, Ben finds an ally in Peter, one of the student research assistants working on the project. Like Ben, Peter sees Zan for what he truly is – a living being with real needs and emotions. With Peter, Ben attempts to find a way out of what has become a tragic trap for Zan.
Oppel did an excellent job with going into the mind of a teenage boy, and along with the troubles the chimp brings, he also struggles with school and with winning the heart of his crush, Jennifer. This book really shows the love in a relationship between two brothers, or in this case, half brothers. Oppel brought life into a chimpanzee that felt more human than animal, and showed us how close we really are to these apes. I thought this book was well-written and contained incredible insight into the thought and voices of both the humans and the chimps. I would recommend this novel to animal lovers and those who would like to read about family relationships.
Graham Scholastic/New York, Pages: 375