Do you like animals stories? Do you like mysteries with lots of slapstick humor and puns? Then I know you'll enjoy MY CHIMP FRIDAY, because it's all those things rolled into one.

When 12-year-old Rachel first sees Friday he's a small, frightened bundle of enchanting fur who reaches out to hug her and cling to her neck. Naturally, she goes "ape" over him. The fantastic news is that the strange little man who brings him to Rachel's home at 2:00 in the morning says they get to keep him --- for a while. But they can't tell anybody they've got him. How can Rachel and her little brother Jared keep a lively chimpanzee with 32 varieties of ear-splitting howls, yowls, and screeches a secret --- especially from nosy Aunt Lisa? It's definitely going to be a challenge.

It's also a challenge when Rachel finds out that the strange little man who left Friday with them slipped on a banana peel and died. As sad as that seems sad it's also a little mysterious. And Rachel loves a good mystery. But first and foremost, Rachel figures this means she gets to keep Friday for good. Wow! Her own little baby chimpanzee!

And he's a smart baby. Incredibly --- one might even say mysteriously --- smart. He can type real words on computers. He understands what people say to him. He's one smart little ape, and some bad people "ape-solutely" want him for themselves.

What will these people be willing to do to him to discover his secret? Read MY CHIMP FRIDAY to find out how Rachel unravels the mystery and maybe you'll learn Friday's secret!

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny