Book Review: MANIAC MONKEYS ON MAGNOLIA STREET

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson Angela. 1998. MANIAC MONKEYS ON MAGNOLIA STREET. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 067989053.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a story about Charlie who starts her new friendships and her family has a new life on Magnolia Street. Charlie has an elder brother, Sid, who always makes fun of her. As the story starts, he tells Charlie about Magnolia Street is full of maniac monkeys. Charlie and her new best friend, Billy, have a magic experience when they wait to see maniac monkeys under willow trees. Miss Marcia, a statue artist, make statue of Charlie as a gift to her, and Mr. Pinkton who held the whole house with fish, are two wonderful neighbors and friends of Charlie and Billy. Charlie, a sweet and enthusiastic girl, likes to be a helper for her neighbors and with sense of imagination and curiosity to explore unusual events in her neighborhood with Billy.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Without looking at the cover of the book and the one illustration in Chapter one, it is hard to tell the story is about an African American girl begin a new life in a dominated Black neighborhood at the very beginning. The author also does not describe the physical portrayals of characters and indoor settings in detail. Therefore, only few cultural markers can be found in hair styles and dressing in illustrations, such as Charlie always wear braid hair and boys with a buzz haircut and wear overall pants.

Charlie is a sweet and friendly girl and she looks like a tomboy always wears a T-shirt and short pants. Children in this story are typical African American children. They like outdoor activities more than indoor activities. Charlie plays jumping ropes in the front yard, hanging around on streets with Billy, exploring adventure with street boys in the neighborhood and visiting neighbors just knocking their doors. The neighbors always open their hands and prepare dessert to welcome them. It sounds like another cultural marker in African American society.

Language dialects play an essential role throughout the story, and there are many conversations, greetings, and daily lives between Charlie with her friends, and Charlie with neighbors; however, it does not present too much cultural markers in it. It is hard to find the black dialect, but Charlie and Bill enjoy singing tongue twister and rhyme song in this story.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal: “This introduction to the main characters and the people in the neighborhood is the best of the bunch with a strong plot and a great platform for the two friends to bond and show off their cleverness. The stories that follow have less action but Charlie's antics will keep readers' interest. The realistic dialogue will make this comfortable reading for kids, though the few grammatical informalities ("Me and Billy") are unnecessary. Black-and-white sketches appear throughout this entertaining, if not gripping, beginning chapter book.”

Booklist: “Newly independent readers will enjoy Charlie's escapades as she makes herself at home on her new street.”

Kirkus: “Writing for a younger audience than that for any of her previous novels, Johnson (The Other Side, p. 1460, etc.) works in a more prosaic style; it lacks her usual lyricism, but is breezy and light, affectionately conveying Charlie's penchant for landing in trouble. Her sunny outlook and the recurring emphasis on friendship may win fans.”

E. CONNECTIONS
Other books by Johnson Angela
Daddy Calls Me Man. 1997. New York: Orchard Books.
Down the Winding Road. 2000. New York: DK Ink.
The Girl Who Wore Snakes. 1993. New York: Orchard Books.
Heaven. 1998. New York: Simon & Schuster Books.
Dav Pilkey. 1993. New York: Orchard Books.
The Leaving Morning. 1992. New York: Orchard Books.
Looking For Red. 2002. New York: Simon & Schuster Books.
One Of Three. 1991. New York: Orchard Books.
The Other Side: Shorter Poems. 1998. New York: Orchard Books.
The Rolling Store. 1997. New York: Orchard Books.
Songs of Faith. 1998. New York: Orchard Books.
Tell Me A Story, Mama. 1992. New York: Orchard Books.
Toning The Sweep. 1993. New York: Orchard Books.
The Wedding. 1999. New York: Orchard Books.
When I Am Old With You. 1993. New York: Orchard Books.