Monkey Town (novel) explained

Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial is a 2006 novel written by American author Ronald Kidd.[1] The story is set in summer 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, and is based on the Scopes Trial.

Plot summary

Frances Robinson, a fifteen-year-old daydreamer, lives in Dayton, a small town in Tennessee. When the summer starts, she wants only to play tennis and drink Coke. However, things bounce out of normal range when her father, the school board chairman, arrests local teacher (and Frances' friend and love interest) John Scopes for teaching Charles Darwin's evolution theory in class, in an effort to attract publicity to the town. Scopes is put on trial. Frances takes Scopes' side and defies her father, even though the case is not completely genuine.[2] [3]

Notable people such as politician William Jennings Bryan (prosecutor of Scopes), lawyer Clarence Darrow (defender of Scopes), and journalist H. L. Mencken arrive in Dayton, along with a horde of reporters, and drama stirs.

Main characters

Reception

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books reviewed Monkey Town, stating that "Though the book rewrites a few bits of history to make its point, it's not the wholesale revisioning of Inherit the Wind, and the story is filled with authentic and lesser-known details."[4] In their review the San Francisco Chronicle wrote "Kidd does his best to blend the historical bits into the coming-of-age narrative, and the result is a very smooth read, with no breaks into discussions of Darwin's life story or extraneous details about the time period."[5]

The book also received reviews from the Horn Book Guide,[6] Kliatt,[7] ALAN Review,[8] Christian Science Monitor,[9] Chicago Sun-Times,[10] and the School Library Journal.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ronald Kidd . 2011-08-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330154258/http://www.ronaldkidd.com/life.html . 2012-03-30 .
  2. Web site: Monkey Town, by Ronald Kidd . www.parenthetical.net . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081120143422/http://www.parenthetical.net/2008/04/29/monkey-town-by-ronald-kidd/ . 2008-11-20.
  3. Web site: Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial .
  4. Gaffney. Loretta. 2006. Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. en. 59. 6. 271. 10.1353/bcc.2006.0099. 143934041. 1558-6766. subscription.
  5. News: A teen girl's view of the Scopes trial. 2006-02-26. SFGate. 2018-09-08.
  6. Web site: Monkey Town (review). January 1, 2006. Horn Book Guide. 2018-09-08.
  7. Claire. Rosser. 2006-01-01. Kidd, Ronald. Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial. (review). https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073548/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-141167776.html. dead. 2018-09-09. Kliatt.
  8. Goodson. Todd. 2006-10-01. Monkey Town. https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073541/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1156244941.html. dead. 2018-09-09. ALAN Review.
  9. Zipp. Yvonne. 2006-03-14. The trial of the century as witnessed by a teen; A teen novel revisits the Scopes monkey trial.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)(Book Review). https://web.archive.org/web/20180909035543/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-143173583.html. dead. 2018-09-09. The Christian Science Monitor.
  10. 2006-02-26. For children (reviews). https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073545/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1614416.html. dead. 2018-09-09. Chicago Sun-Times.
  11. Web site: Monkey Town (review). February 1, 2006. School Library Journal. 2018-09-08.

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