Half Brother
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Half Brother for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
An open, warm, tear-jerking novel that will appeal to all readers from 12 upwards.
Product Description
Ben Tomlin has been an only child for thirteen years. So when his research-scientist parents bring home a baby chimp to raise as a human child, Ben's life is turned upside-down. Teaching a baby chimp how to understand language is not his idea of fun, especially when he's trying to settle in at his new school.
But it isn't long before Zan's infectious personality endears him to everyone and he becomes a real member of the family. But just what will happen when he grows up and the experiment comes to an end? Ben must take dramatic steps, and the repercussions ricochet through his home and community with devastating results.
This phenomenal novel is a thought-provoking story of relationships and family, first love, growing up, ethics and dilemmas.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This one took me by surprise. I wasn't particularly excited by the premise but it seemed different and so I thought I'd see what it was like. Half Brother is definitely something I'd recommend for any Young Adult reader. I was a little apprehensive about reading about a 13 year old, but Ben's emotions and thoughts felt older and they were definitely powerful. Ben was just as interesting as his Chimpanzee brother, Zan. It is a coming of age novel and his emotions were very realistic. The relationships in this novel are very deep and there are a lot of issues with his friends, father, mother, student carers for Zan and of course Zan himself. The romance in this book regarding Ben and Jennifer adds something to the novel without being too 'fluffy'. A lot of ethical issues were covered in this novel regarding keeping wild animals as pets and also experimentation on novels. There is a lot that can be discussed and this book is certainly thought provoking. I found Ben and Zan's loyalty and love for each other to be very touching and made for a powerful story. There isn't anything I can really fault with this and I was eager to keep on reading. I'd certainly recommend this one.
Format:Paperback
By the title 'Half Brother' I worried that it would be more a Curious George story more than a novel, but Kenneth Oppel has written a brilliant and captivating story filled with love, sadness and ethics. I cannot start to describe how amazing this book was after I finally put it down. 10 stars, if I could.
Said my son.
Said my son.
Format:Hardcover
I first heard about Half Brother earlier in the year when a few of us book bloggers met with the Random House publicity team to discuss upcoming releases. Immediately this one grabbed my attention and I couldn't get it out of my head.
When I received an ARC for review I was over the moon and couldn't wait to start reading it. I fell in love with the story from page one and it just got better and better as the novel progressed. Half Brother is undoubtedly one of my favourite books of the year, if not of all time and I absolutely have to insist that you all read it when it comes out in January, even if you think it might not be your cup of tea.
The characters are wonderful and truly unique. Ben is so brilliantly whole and it's clear the writer paid so much attention to detail when he was crafting the Tomlin family. Ben's father is first and foremost a scientist, so when Ben and his mother are cooing over baby Zan, he treats the chimp like a test subject and nothing more. It's really fascinating to see how the different family members bond with Zan. At first Ben is wary of the chimp but he's soon charmed by him and within a few months they're inseparable and Mrs Tomlin takes on the role of Zan's surrogate mother perfectly. Throw in Peter - one of Zan's student carers and you have a host of unforgettable characters.
The subplot of Ben's mission to make Jennifer his girlfriend (the `Project Jennifer' updates made me laugh out loud) is really entertaining and doesn't detract from the main plot at all. In fact, Ben's struggle to fit in in his new surroundings, with an entirely new group of peers, just added to the story as a whole.
However, Half Brother's strength lays in its realism and this does make for heartbreaking reading at times. It's not smooth sailing 100% of the time for Zan and his human family and the best advice I can give you is to have tissues at the ready. God knows when I finished the book I had mascara crusted to my cheeks and puffy eyes. Nice.
Kenneth Oppel's touching writing will break your heart but the tears are worth it. Half Brother is an absolutely outstanding novel that is sure to be one of the huge hits of 2011. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Why are you still here? Go and order a copy now!
When I received an ARC for review I was over the moon and couldn't wait to start reading it. I fell in love with the story from page one and it just got better and better as the novel progressed. Half Brother is undoubtedly one of my favourite books of the year, if not of all time and I absolutely have to insist that you all read it when it comes out in January, even if you think it might not be your cup of tea.
The characters are wonderful and truly unique. Ben is so brilliantly whole and it's clear the writer paid so much attention to detail when he was crafting the Tomlin family. Ben's father is first and foremost a scientist, so when Ben and his mother are cooing over baby Zan, he treats the chimp like a test subject and nothing more. It's really fascinating to see how the different family members bond with Zan. At first Ben is wary of the chimp but he's soon charmed by him and within a few months they're inseparable and Mrs Tomlin takes on the role of Zan's surrogate mother perfectly. Throw in Peter - one of Zan's student carers and you have a host of unforgettable characters.
The subplot of Ben's mission to make Jennifer his girlfriend (the `Project Jennifer' updates made me laugh out loud) is really entertaining and doesn't detract from the main plot at all. In fact, Ben's struggle to fit in in his new surroundings, with an entirely new group of peers, just added to the story as a whole.
However, Half Brother's strength lays in its realism and this does make for heartbreaking reading at times. It's not smooth sailing 100% of the time for Zan and his human family and the best advice I can give you is to have tissues at the ready. God knows when I finished the book I had mascara crusted to my cheeks and puffy eyes. Nice.
Kenneth Oppel's touching writing will break your heart but the tears are worth it. Half Brother is an absolutely outstanding novel that is sure to be one of the huge hits of 2011. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Why are you still here? Go and order a copy now!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Half Brother
Ben's parents are both scientists but he is shocked when they announce that they are adopting a chimpanzee so they can try to teach it sign language. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Sarah Gibson
Emotional book
This was a title that I wasn't sure which way it would go. It had potential to be a story of eco discovery, the potential to be a tale of emotional as well as worldly knowledge as... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
Great insight
I have enjoyed the 13 books by Kenneth Oppel that I read before reading this one. But I approached the premise of this one with a bit of hesitation; I should have known better. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Steven R. McEvoy
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Ben can't believe he is being forced into becoming part of his father's latest science experiment. Being the only son of a college professor/research scientist hasn't really... Read more
Published 20 months ago by TeensReadToo
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Issues > Social
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
