Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial

GRRRRREAT!! Couldn't put down. There are not enough superlatives to describe how wonderful this book retells one of the famous trials of the 20th century in this country. I wish all stories in history could be incorporated into a historical novel of this caliber. Johnny Scopes was just another high school teacher until Mr. Robinson decided that the town of Dayton, Tennessee needed to be better known across the country. His simple plan to get some publicity for the town turned into one of this country's greatest debate over evolution vs. creationism and turned one small town upside down. Mr. Robinson's daughter, Frances, is telling this story and she was infatuated with Johnny Scopes. He considered her a friend throughout the trail and all its escapades. This book is a wonderful way to teach kids how to look at both sides of an argument, and how to evaluate all perspectives of a debate. The author's notes at the end of this book are also very valuable to show students how true circumstances can be fictionalize to give the story a voice.

Monkey Town by Ronald Kidd is an interesting and informative book. It tells the events of the Scopes Trial in a way that doesn't put kids to sleep as well as sticking as close to the facts as possible. I also liked the characters since I could understand how they felt. However, it had some parts that seemed a little bit strange and unnecessary like the scene where Frances goes and sees the church extremist. I also couldn't really tell during some parts of the book if the events that were told really happened or if the author made them up like when Frances breaks up a mob that is about to form. I couldn't tell if there really was a mob or if the author just added that to move the story along. Overall, I thought that it was a good book. The only problem was that I couldn't tell which events really happened and which events were just made-up by the author to match the story.

When fifteen-year-old Frances Robinson becomes caught up in the famous Scopes trial, nothing--neither her town nor her parents nor her own life--will ever be the same. In his latest novel, Monkey Town, Ron Kidd touches on universal themes to recreate a world that not only is past for us today, but also is slipping like sand through the fingers of his main character. Anyone who has lived through the teenage years or is currently fighting through that confusing life stage will recognize the doubts, the disillusionments, and also the discoveries about herself and those around her that Frances encounters during one long, hot summer. In learning that people--even those closest to her--are not always what they seem, she matures from a child to a young woman ready to seek her own destiny in the world. The real strength of this novel is Kidd's portrayal of the complex characters woven into the story and the nostalgic portrayal of small town life in 1920s Tennessee. Both children and adults will thoroughly enjoy this book.

You know what the bane of a children's librarian's life is? Well-written middle reader titles. You know what I mean. They're those charming tomes with protagonists that are young teens. These books are written with a very definite readership in mind and they are a nightmare to deal with collectionwise. If your local library has a children's section AND a teen section, where do you put a book like, "Monkey Town"? It's so incredibly well-written with interesting facts and some amazing plotting that you're inclined to put it in the children's room. Then again, the character is obviously a teen and we're dealing with some pretty heavy topics in this novel. Evolution. The existence of God. Small town life vs. big city snobbery. This is a coming of age novel in the best sense of the term, but it makes my life a misery. It would have been so much easier to catalogue had the book been badly written or boring. Then I could have just urged the Powers That Be not to purchase it at all. Instead, I'll reluctantly hand it to the Young Adult librarians in my branch and pray that tweens and early teens find it lurking there. Cause until our libraries start creating Middle Reader Librarians and rooms, books like "Monkey Town" will be straddling two entirely different readerships. Frances luuuvs Johnny. Johnny Scopes, that is. Heard of him? Well he's the young college kid who graduated and took a post in fifteen-year-old Frances's high school. She thinks he's dreamy, but he treats her more like a kid sister than the sophisticated dame she'd like to be. Frances loves Johnny but there are other problems apart from their age difference. You see, Frances's father is Frank Earle Robinson, owner of Robinson's Drugs. One day, Mr. Robinson and some of the town leaders come up with a scheme that'll get the city of Dayton, Tennessee a little more publicity. You see, the state of Tennessee makes it illegal to teach evolution in schools. Now the ACLU wants a Tennessee teacher to be a test case that can bring this law to the courts. Mr. Robinson and his friends want that someone to be Johnny Scopes. He taught the kids evolution in the last year, didn't he? Reluctantly Johnny agrees, but only with the given understanding that he'll keep his job in the end. Still, nobody could expect the maelstrom of activity that is brought to bear on this formerly sleepy burg once the trial approaches. And for Frances, the influx of folks from out of town means that she's exposed to new thoughts and ideas. Maybe evolution and creation are not diametrically opposed. Maybe her father isn't as great a guy as she thought he was. And maybe even in a small homey town like Dayton, there's a lot of nastiness that lurks deep in the hearts of even the "nicest" of people. "Inherit the Wind" for the kiddie set? Not exactly. The real focus of this novel is on Frances herself. Through her eyes we get to meet all the major players in the Scopes Trial. For example, she