A moving new middle grade novel about childhood anxiety and grief, from the author of The Secrets of Blueberries, Brothers, Moose, and Me. Eleven-year-old Josh Duncan has never had much luck making friends–not the real kind, anyway. Moving to a new town is supposed to be a chance to leave behind the problems that plagued Josh at his last school. Problems like Big Brother, Josh’s favorite and best friend. Because, as Josh’s parents tell him, he’s too old to still have imaginary friends. But even before the first day of school is over, Big Brother reappears–and he’s not alone. Only this time one of Josh’s imaginary friends seems to be interacting with another boy at school, Lucas Hernandez. Can Lucas see them, too? Brought together by an unusual classroom experiment and a mysterious invitation to join something called the Gorilla Club, Josh and Lucas are about to discover how a unique way of seeing the world can reveal a real-life friend.

What Kind of Book is Last Meeting of the Gorilla Club

Topics

friendship moving school social themes new experiences coming of age depression and mental illness the first day of school imaginary friends

Genres

fiction

Reviews

The Goodfather

5.75

Refreshingly unique storyline. It doesn't tie up all loose ends quite as tightly as I might like, but that feels intentional as it leaves you with more to ponder and invites the story and the ideas presented to continue on rather than be tied up and completed. There are some hilarious moments of dead pan wit—the inspirational posters was my favorite. It's a tender coming of age story that also builds to a fairly suspenseful with even a touch of "ghost story" ending. But if it crosses from suspenseful to scary it's only just barely—and I'm very much a scaredy cat.