Synopsis
Master storyteller Ronald Kidd weaves a story rife with first love and the pain of growing up, together with a recreation of The Scopes Trial—the most enduring trial of the twentieth century.
School is out in the summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. For Frances Robinson, a fifteen-year-old daydreamer with a crush on a teacher, John T. Scopes, summer vacation promises tennis and Coca-Colas from her father's drug store. But when Frances's father, the school board chairman, has Scopes arrested for teaching evolution, the sleepiest place on earth becomes a hotbed for famous thinkers, including H. L. Mencken, Clarence Darrow, and William Jennings Bryan.
Overnight the world is flocking to Dayton to decide: Are people really descended from monkeys? Does the theory of evolution have a place in biology class? As Frances sees the man she loves struggling beside her, she begins to question her town, her neighbors, and the father she has always trusted.
Alan Review
Given the recent debate regarding "intelligent design," Kidd's Monkey Town is especially timely. Inspired by a chance meeting with the daughter of one of the key players in the Scopes Monkey Trial, Kidd carefully researched the events of the summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, and young people with an interest in the evolution controversy should find this a compelling read. Kidd's novel retells the Scopes story as one of a small town struggling to survive in the face of economic hardship. Town leaders see in the ACLU's offer to defend any teacher charged under the state's new anti-evolution law an opportunity to bring attention, publicity, and prosperity to Dayton. With the consent of John Scopes, the trial moves forward, ultimately to become part of American mythology. Monkey Town provides an accessible glimpse into an important incident in American history and culture. The book is especially well-suited for interdisciplinary studies, and the topic should be of interest to many contemporary students.