Orphaned (Ape Quartet #4)

Schrefer, Eliot. Orphaned (Ape Quartet #4)
25th 2018 by Scholastic Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Snub is a young gorilla living in prehistoric times. She has a family that included Silverback, Brother, Wrinkle and Teased, and they are very close. When Snub's mother has a new baby, Snub feels unloved, but that is a small tragedy compared to the eruption of a volcano. The lava displaces and kills many creatures, and Snub is separated from her family for a while. Food becomes difficult to find. Snub is eventually reunited with her family, and starts to feel more warmly toward Breath, the new baby. When non-gorilla creatures stumble across her path, Snub ends up caring not only for her new sibling, but for this new creature as well and must navigate her changed world not only to save herself but to save her new charges as well.

Told in the same impressionistic, verse style text that Applegate's The One and Only Ivan utilizes, this delves into the thought process of Snub, highlighting her all important family relationships but making her a functioning member of her larger society as well.

Like Beckhorn's The Wolf's Boy, this is a rare look into prehistory. Schrefer has done a lot of research on an enormous amount of gorilla behaviors for the previous volumes in this series, and going back into prehistory to show a very early ape-human interaction is a nice touch for the conclusion of this quartet.

Hand this to readers who want to increase their knowledge of primate behavior or who want a fascinating glimpse into a time when the world was completely undeveloped!

I have Endangered in my collection because it was a Battle of the Books title one year, but it hasn't left the shelf in four years. Not something that will do well in my school. Sending the copy to another middle school in my district.