Schrefer (Endangered, rev. 1/13; Threatened, rev. 5/14) takes a hard look at familial relationships: between mothers and fathers, parents and children, and brothers -- one of whom, in this case, is an orangutan. It is the summer before fifth grade when orangutan Raja arrives in the Atlanta suburbs, procured impulsively by Johns father during a business trip to Indonesia. The bond between boy and orangutan is instant and permanent, and their sibling-like interactions are vividly drawn. Increasingly angry exchanges between Johns parents eventually lead to divorce, and John moves across the country with his mother while Raja stays back with his father. Raja and John are dramatically reunited after Johns father can no longer afford to care for Raja and the orangutan ends up in a roadside zoo. Schrefer again gives readers a deep and compassionate view of a great ape within a complex narrative that brings animal-rights issues to the fore. What should be done with adult primates who have been raised with humans but can no longer live with them? And what about the dreadful situation in Rajas homeland where the demand for palm oil is decimating his species? These questions and more offer much to ponder throughout this well-researched and emotionally rich work. monica edinger (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In the third installment of the Ape Quartet (following 2014's Endangered), two-time National Book Award finalist Schrefer tackles the plight of orangutans and how their vulnerability in the wild leads to unexpected consequences. In this case, it brings the issue to America, in the form of Raja, an orangutan stolen from Indonesia as a baby and adopted as a pet by a well-meaning, if ignorant, family. Sixteen-year-old John has grown up with Raja; the two are practically brothers, despite a childhood incident that cost John a finger. When John's parents separate, so do boy and ape, but after John's father sells Raja to a sketchy roadside zoo, John risks everything to rescue his one-time companion. Their journey brings them to Sumatra, where John understands the true scope of the problem facing Raja's species. Schrefer paints a powerful picture of the cost of exploiting nature, the demands of agriculture, and the complexities of globalization, and the portrayal of Raja as an intelligent, complex individual is gripping and heartbreaking. Schrefer continues to be a vital voice for wildlife conservation and ape empathy. Ages 12-up. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Gr 6 Up-The third entry in the author's well-received quartet, this work introduces us to Raja, a pet orangutan living in suburbia with John and his parents. John grows up with Raja, and their bond is deep. But as the animal grows older and less cute, the family is forced to stop treating him like a teddy bear come to life. Raja is separated from John, banished to a trailer in the backyard. Eventually, the friends have to live further apart when John's parents separate. When the boy's father decides to send Raja to live at a zoo, John knows he has to say goodbye to Raja. He realizes he can't let Raja be mistreated and abused any longer and decides to smuggle the orangutan back to where he came from-Indonesia-no matter what it takes. It's John's responsibility to do what's best for Raja, whatever that may be. Schrefer beautifully shows the humanity we share with all living things and pulls some heartstrings in this tale. Readers will be affected by the narrative and realize that while this work is fiction, stories of mistreated animals in our societies are unfortunately quite real and common. VERDICT This is another well-written and fast-paced story that Endangered and Threatened fans will enjoy.-Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

EVER SINCE I wrote a novel about bonobos, I approach books about apes with a sense of great apprehension - dread, really - hoping desperately that I won't find in its pages an illustration of the kind of love affair many people think we have with apes, but that is actually one-sided. Eliot Schrefer's "Rescued" opens with a scene that both knocked the wind out of me and made it clear this was not that type of novel. It's the third book in a promised "quartet" about great apes, and although Schrefer, a well-deserving two-time National Book Award finalist, approaches the conundrums and difficulties of our relationship with apes with sensitivity and finesse, he also pulls no punches. The story is about a family that acquires an infant orangutan, Raja, with no idea what they are getting into, and then attempts to raise him alongside their human child. When the inevitable happens, Schrefer delves into the hidden side of the human-ape relationship: the dirty secret that is Chapter 2 in the life of any ape pulled into the human world. John, the novel's 10-year-old narrator, is the product of an unhappy marriage between a crass, selfish father who is unavailable both emotionally and physically (his job working for a junk food conglomerate called Happy Foods keeps him away from home much of the time) and a mother who has essentially given up. As John puts in, she "never calmly told anyone her feelings - any dark emotion only came out if she was fighting. Those were the blazing moments of sincerity; otherwise it was more important to her that everything was good rather than real." After they happen to enjoy a movie together featuring an orangutan, John's father returns from his next business trip with an infant orangutan in a barrel, which he then rolls down the driveway toward John and his mother. The description was enough to cause a visceral reaction, in part because it reminded me of a disturbing YouTube video I saw recently of a distressed monkey swaddled from head to toe in a snowsuit, bouncing helplessly as people watch and laugh. Baby apes are, quite simply, adorable. They appear so similar to human babies that seeing them dressed in diapers or sitting on a person's hip causes our hearts to lurch with baby-lust rather than alarm, and when they are slightly older and we see them capering onscreen, what many of us perceive as an enormous, happy grin is actually a grimace of fear. The unpalatable truth is that since ape mothers are as likely to hand over their babies as human mothers, these apes' lives necessarily begin with tragedy. I have no doubt that the people who raise baby apes love them, but attempts to raise an ape as a human cause irreparable harm to the ape, and the situation inevitably comes to a bad end. After only six to eight years, when the apes mature, they are too dangerous to remain in the company of humans. Grown apes are many times stronger than people, have definite opinions and - unsurprisingly - act like apes. They can live upward of 60 years. This unsolvable problem - and John's heroic efforts to prevent Raja from ending up in a dismal roadside "zoo" - become the main thrust of "Rescued." THERE ARE a few places in the novel where the suspension of disbelief is hard to maintain - how, exactly, could the father have returned from a business trip with an orangutan in a barrel? If John is savvy enough to look up ape-related stories on the Internet, such as how mother orangutans teach their babies to avoid poisonous fruit and, more ominously, how a pet chimpanzee escaped and was shot by the police, how could he not run across information on the dangers of keeping apes in the house? But these are minor quibbles about a story that is enthralling, fast-paced, adventurous and deeply touching. We sense that John's love for Raja is infinite. The ape is beautifully portrayed - perhaps the most fully realized character in the book - and, despite the clear and present danger of Schrefer's story becoming a morality tale, it never falls into that trap. It would be equally enticing to let the book become a fairy tale, but while Raja fares better than virtually any real captive ape who is past his "best before" date, Schrefer presents the start of Raja's Chapter 2 as it is: realistic, gritty, dangerous, yet fabulously hopeful. SARA GRUEN is the author of novels including "Water for Elephants" and "Ape House."

When John was 10, his father brought him a baby orangutan, Raja, from Indonesia. Even when Raja bites off John's finger, John understands that the animal meant no harm, though his parents see the incident differently. As his parents' marriage dissolves, John moves away with his mother, leaving Raja with his dad. Soon John learns that his father can no longer afford to keep a grown orangutan, which has been living neglected in a trailer. Although John's father claims to have worked out a solution, John realizes that Raja is ill-prepared for a life in captivity or in the wild. This latest entry in Schrefer's Ape Quartet is every bit as powerful as the first two, although very different in perspective. The impulse to adopt cute but very wild animals is exposed as a reckless, selfish act. While maintaining the tension of imminent danger, Schrefer keeps the focus on John's extraordinary bond with Raja. Highly recommended for fans of the series, as well as those looking for books like Kenneth Oppel's Half Brother (2010).--Colson, Diane Copyright 2016 Booklist