The book Half Brother is an engrossing novel based in Victoria, Canada, in the 1970s. Ben was a teenager whose father had gotten a job as a behavioral psychologist at a university. He was going to try to teach a chimpanzee how to communicate with humans using sign language. At first, Ben thought Zan, the baby chimpanzee that his parents brought home, was weird. How dare his parents have more time for some random animal than him? But soon, Zan grew on Ben and they became like brothers.
Zan was learning fast and was able to communicate with others. However, he was truly a chimpanzee. No matter how much Ben's family tried to treat him like a human, Zan had animal instincts and caused wrecks all the time, like biting research students who mistreated him. At one point, Ben's parents had enough of it. They didn't want Zan anymore. They sold him to a research facility far away in the USA, to Ben's disappointment. But one day when Ben visited Zan there, he found out that the facility was planning to do immoral things with Zan. After relentless efforts, Ben's family was able to buy Zan back and give him a different, safe home.
I loved this book. Throughout the story, Kenneth Oppel described everything in a way that made me connect with Ben and share his feelings as he navigated through his chaotic life in Victoria. Once I picked up the book, it was hard to put it back down because there was so much happening in the story.
I would recommend Half Brother to anyone who loves family drama and cares for animal rights. This book is truly a good read for anyone, but it might change their viewpoints on different topics.