Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel is an amazingly emotional, and completely original book. It is a books with a unique plot, complex characters, and a variety of themes and ideas. This books stands apart from others the second you open it. Told from the point of view of the son of two scientists, Ben’s totally unhappy to find his parents are bringing a chimp home. He never asked for it, and isn’t welcoming towards Zan, the chimp.
But, slowly, Ben bonds with Zan. He goes from seeing the chimp as a nuisance, to seeing him as a brother, an equal. As Ben and Zan grow closer, you as a reader begin to bond with and become attached to them too-almost subconsciously. Kenneth Oppel did an incredible job at creating likeable, as well as hateable, characters. As the two brothers grow fonder of each other, Ben starts to realize that his father still sees the chimp as an experiment and not as his son. The father is written as very cold and very mean towards his own sons, both Ben and Zan.
The book in itself, makes you feel as though you will better accept people after. After reading about the amazing connection between a boy and his animal brother, you will feel as though accepting people isn’t that hard, and that the effort should be made. The book makes you feel more connected with the people around you. And it makes you feel more warmly towards animals! Jenna Mazzio from Our Hen House said, ‘At times, Half Brother had me literally laughing out loud, a few scenes brought tears to my eyes, and still other parts had me questioning the way in which I treat my own companion animals’. Mazzio later goes on to say, ‘the love and compassion he [Ben] maintains for Zan can inspire us all to act on the behalf of those who are voiceless.
Half Brother contains something for everyone. Told from the fresh point of view of a teenage boy, the book talks about a diverse amount of topics. Ben talks about the struggles of moving to a new place,
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel is an amazingly emotional, and completely original book. It is a books with a unique plot, complex characters, and a variety of themes and ideas. This books stands apart from others the second you open it. Told from the point of view of the son of two scientists, Ben’s totally unhappy to find his parents are bringing a chimp home. He never asked for it, and isn’t welcoming towards Zan, the chimp.
But, slowly, Ben bonds with Zan. He goes from seeing the chimp as a nuisance, to seeing him as a brother, an equal. As Ben and Zan grow closer, you as a reader begin to bond with and become attached to them too-almost subconsciously. Kenneth Oppel did an incredible job at creating likeable, as well as hateable, characters. As the two brothers grow fonder of each other, Ben starts to realize that his father still sees the chimp as an experiment and not as his son. The father is written as very cold and very mean towards his own sons, both Ben and Zan.
The book in itself, makes you feel as though you will better accept people after. After reading about the amazing connection between a boy and his animal brother, you will feel as though accepting people isn’t that hard, and that the effort should be made. The book makes you feel more connected with the people around you. And it makes you feel more warmly towards animals! Jenna Mazzio from Our Hen House said, ‘At times, Half Brother had me literally laughing out loud, a few scenes brought tears to my eyes, and still other parts had me questioning the way in which I treat my own companion animals’. Mazzio later goes on to say, ‘the love and compassion he [Ben] maintains for Zan can inspire us all to act on the behalf of those who are voiceless.
Half Brother contains something for everyone. Told from the fresh point of view of a teenage boy, the book talks about a diverse amount of topics. Ben talks about the struggles of moving to a new place,