Fantastic story told from the point of view of 9 year old Beanie who (SPOILER ALERT) has leukemia and is quite gifted. Beanie tags along with his older brother's gang of friends who are a few years older than him because he doesn't really have many friends of his own due to his illness. We learn that something is wrong with Beanie's life "special circumstances" bit by bit and the author is quite skilled at letting the reader gradually work out what is the matter with Beanie. (Initially I thought the mother had cancer.)
While Beanie is on a jaunt with Mark's gang, they visit a deserted building where they are confronted by a "monster". When the rest of the gang runs away Beanie discovers that the monster is actually a baby chimpanzee that can use sign language. He decides to bring it food and look after it, but puzzled by the signs it uses, enlists the help of a local lonely deaf girl on the condition that she is allowed to join Mark's gang. Beanie and his friends must work out where Macolm the chimp came from. where they can take him and who are the bad guys who are looking for him.
A lovely, funny, and touching book about fitting in and overcoming hardships. Highly recommended from Year 5 upwards. ( )