My Chimp Friday: The Nana Banana Chronicles ANNOTATION
When an old friend of her father's drops off an unusually intelligent chimpanzee at their apartment in the middle of the night with strict orders to keep the chimp a secret, twelve-year-old Rachel wants to know what the big mystery is all about.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Rachel can't imagine why Bucky Greene, a scientist friend of her father's who's developing genetically engineered bananas, would show up at their New York City apartment in the middle of the night to leave a baby chimpanzee with them for a week -- or why they absolutely, positively can't tell anyone about it. What could possibly be "top secret" about an adorable chimp like Friday? Rachel has no idea, but when Friday turns out to be really smart -- and Bucky Greene turns up really dead (having slipped on his own banana peel) -- she suspects serious monkey-business...
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Inspired by a chimpanzee raised by the author in a Manhattan apartment, this diverting if outlandish story centers on a baby chimp who comes to live with sixth-grader Rachel Stelson's New York family. Not long after fidgety scientist Bucky Greene furtively drops off Friday in the middle of the night, and begs them to keep him for a week and to say nothing, Greene is reported dead. Rachel soon realizes that someone knows Friday is residing with the Stelsons and wants to get hold of the chimp. Mundis, a comedy writer, is at her best with descriptions of the chimp: Friday turns out to be prodigiously gifted. He quickly learns to play solitaire on the computer, solve Rubik's Cube and dial the phone. And he causes merry mayhem in the school gym and at a toy store on several occasions when Rachel sneaks him out of the apartment in her backpack. The plot grows goofier, linking Friday's intelligence to genetically engineered bananas and Greene's death to the evil motives of his bosses at the Bio-Allmeans research lab. Balancing the effective humor, a wistful undercurrent Rachel's mother died three years earlier fans into a bittersweet conclusion. A good choice for animal lovers. Ages 8-12. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature - Beverley Fahey
In the middle of the night Bucky Greene, a scientist with Bio-Allmeans Lab and a friend of Rachel's dad, shows up at their apartment enlisting their help in caring for a baby chimp named Friday for a week. Before he leaves, Greene swears them to secrecy and as quickly as he arrived, he is gone. In the days that follow Rachel and her brother Jared discover this is no ordinary chimp. He quickly solves a Rubik cube puzzle, seems to understand language, and is quite adept at the computer. Before the week is out Bucky Greene turns up dead and the family learns he was working on a secret DNA project. Believing this to be the link to the chimp, Rachel embarks on a madcap adventure to save Friday from chimp-nappers and return him to the one home Bucky Greene intended. From start to finish, this fast paced mystery has enough plot twists and turns to keep readers on their toes. Sprinkled with humor and snappy dialogue, not to mention a thoroughly lovable chimp, kids will pick up the clues and with Rachel race to the finish to solve the mystery. The author, an Emmy-nominated writer and once the owner of a chimp, makes a subtle and heartfelt plea that endangered species not be kept as pets. 2002, Simon & Schuster,
School Library Journal
Gr 4-6-An entertaining and heartfelt urban "Curious George" for middle-grade readers. When Bucky Greene unexpectedly drops off a chimp at the Stelsons' Manhattan apartment at 2 a.m. and instructs the family to keep the animal's presence a secret, they are confused, to say the least. The mystery deepens after the eccentric scientist who entrusted Friday to their care is found dead. Eventually, it is revealed that he was working on a genetically engineered banana that greatly increased the chimp's intelligence. Now, the man's enemies are after his prize creature. Rachel, 12, and her brother, Jared, 9, become increasingly attached to the animal that can solve a Rubik's Cube, play solitaire, and use a computer. The kids are determined to protect Friday and keep him as their own, but, in the end, they realize that the city is not the proper environment for him, and learn what it means to sacrifice for the good of another. As outlandish as this plot seems, the novel is based on the author's experience of raising a chimp in New York City. The ending is surprisingly poignant and will resonate with readers who have had to bid farewell to a cherished pet. With the right mix of adventure and humor, this tale is likely to be popular with independent readers and as a read-aloud.-Ronni Krasnow, New York Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
This mystery/animal/humor/environment story starts off with a bang-make that a chimp! "On a Dark and Noisy Night," a weird scientist friend of Rachel's father pounds on their door at 2:00 in the morning and insists they keep his lab chimp for a week while he's gone. He offers no explanations because it's TOP SECRET! Rachel, 12, and her brother Jared, 9, immediately adore the chimp, which they name Friday. At first they try to keep Friday secret, but when the scientist is found dead from slipping on a banana peel, Rachel intuitively knows there's a plot at work. Ensuing events build the tension: someone keeps trying to chimp-nap Friday; Rachel salvages her sabotaged Earth Day project, "Honey, I Shrunk the Habitat," by using Friday as a live demonstration; Friday's increasing displays of intelligence-typing BANANA on the computer and solving Rubik's Cube; and assorted suspicious lurkers around the apartment building. Set in New York's Upper West Side, Rachel is a contemporary cross between Nancy Drew and Harriet the Spy. Her detective antics will have kids speed-reading to solve the mystery. An author's note substantiates that she raised a chimp in a Manhattan apartment and her experience as a TV comedy writer accounts for the fast pace, pun-filled scenes, and snappy dialogue. The attention-grabbing cover and immensely popular premise will likely have kids going bananas over this fun story that's ready-made for movie land. (Side note: the page design alternately prints the author's name and book title on every page-annoying and unnecessary.) (Fiction. 8-12)
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