Monkey Island

by Fox, Paula. (Orchard, 1991 ISBN 0-531-05962) Novel. Grades 5 +.
This book was reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Review

Monkey Island, a homeless settlement, is the locale for much of the action in this book. It's where eleven year old Clay Garrity ends up after first his father and then his mother fall victim to the joblessness and despair that accompanies their steadily deteriorating lifestyle. A wonderfully half-mad, sometimes drunk, philosopher named Calvin together with a young black adult, Buddy, help Clay survive on Monkey Island while he searches for his missing mother.