Summer of the Monkeys

This book I am doing a review on is called Summer of theMonkeys by Wilson Rawls. Rawls was also the author of Where the Red Fern Grow, another amazing book. Summer of the Monkeys takes place in the very late 18th century in Oklahoma. It is about a fourteen-year old boy named Jay Berry Lee who wants a pony and a .22 caliber gun and desires to purchase them by trapping monkeys and returning them to the circus for a large sum of money.

In his first attempt to catch the monkeys, he sets the traps under a tree, hides them, and pins apples on the tree. This plan fails when Jimbo, the head monkey, simply reaches high and gets the apples off the tree, and, when he is satisfied, he gives the rest of the apples to the little monkeys. For his second plan that day, Jay sets the traps, hides them, and places apples on the trigger. This plan also fails when Jimbo uses a stick to trip the traps. He again shares the apples with the little monkeys. Later, Jay Berry decides to take a break and heads to the nearby spring. When he gets back, he finds that the monkeys have stolen his lunch and traps. He gets angry and shoots rocks at the monkeys. The monkeys then get very angry and chase Jay home.

Jay spends a huge chunk of his summer trying to catch those monkeys, will he do it? There’s only one way to find out and that’s if you go and check the book out. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to read a fun and exciting book.

Book Review by Jacob S.