To Catch a Monkey

by Richard Read

The “Great Recession” of 2008 has struck the United States. Calista Snipe’s family is adversely affected by the recession. Her father loses his job as a college professor and although Calista’s mother continues to work part time, the family’s income has been greatly reduced. Now her father is faced with the probability that his unemployment checks will cease if Congress does not vote to extend them. When a very rare monkey, a gibbon, escapes from the local zoo, Calista decides she will catch the gibbon and give the reward money to her father. In her search for the escaped gibbon, Calista enlists the help of her best friend, Skyler McCray. Skyler and Calista joined forces when they were in fourth grade to solve the mystery of the lost purse. Now, two years older, they believe they are up to the task of finding and capturing Papillon, the missing gibbon. However, the challenge of catching the little monkey soon becomes more difficult than they had anticipated as Papillon continually travels from one city park to another, and Cali and Sky discover that they do not have the best of equipment to capture a gibbon. To complicate their task, they discover that other parties are interested in capturing the monkey, and these parties are not happy to find that Cali and Sky are in the competition to win the reward money. To Catch A Monkey explores the impact of the 2008 recession on a middle class family, peer bullying, beginning awareness of puberty for later elementary grade children, and the strengthening friendship between a sixth grade boy and girl.

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 18, 2014

Reviews

[Rachel Barnard · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Reviewed through Reedsy Discovery.

It’s not Calista Snipe’s job to support her family. Money is tight and when she is presented with an opportunity to help she’ll jump at the chance. The local zoo has lost their precious monkey and they’re offering a good reward for information leading to his capture. Calista, along with her friends, will learn about this special monkey but they’re not the only ones looking to snag the reward money. She’ll have to outsmart older kids, desperate criminals, and maybe even a monkey!

Small problems seem like big problems for the young protagonist. Any time one problem is solved or suddenly less of a big problem, a new problem pops up for her. Not all issues are equal; some require help, critical thinking, or creative problem-solving. Some are even more moral dilemmas than physical problems. The first problem to solve is about the bully from the bus. Then it’s her family’s financial stability. Then it’s the missing monkey. Then it’s what to do with the monkey after they find it. And so on. There are teachable moments throughout the story that ground it in the middle-grade category.

The plot is quite simple but touches on some more advanced topics. I was a little surprised that the story included drugs, kidnapping, and drinking. The bad guys are seen in their daily lives, which is not always the case with stereotypical bad guys!

At times I could tell that this was not the first book in the series, but it does stand on its own. If you want to get to know the characters more then you should probably start at the beginning of the series, but it was fine to start with this book as the author does a good job building the backstory, setting, characters, and story.

The pacing was good and the story kept me entertained, especially as it was a third-person narrative that kept switching perspectives. I really liked Otis’ brief yet distinct character arc. It was nice to see Calista’s friendship with Skyler (especially as they are different genders and that can sometimes be a point of tension).

This is a solid middle-grade book with easy-to-read writing. Sometimes there are word definitions to help out younger readers. Sometimes some pictures add to the descriptions and are fun to look at while reading.