Monkey Brother

Auerbach’s unnamed narrator, a boy with a shock of unruly red hair, claims that his younger brother is an actual monkey, and it’s hard not to empathize: the sibling is a wily, gravity-defying pest with limitless energy and some serious boundary issues. (One vignette shows the monkey popping out of the medicine cabinet while the older boy is sitting on the toilet.) The first half of the book serves as a catalogue of the older sibling’s frustrations: “One monkey is bad enough. Two of them can really make you crazy,” he explains while being set upon by his brother’s simian friends. But on further consideration, he decides that mimicry and rowdiness aren’t all bad, and that the brothers might need to stick together, given that their baby sister is the elephant in the room. Auerbach’s crisp ink outlines and straightforward drawing style bring the same sly humor to this story as they did to his debut, 2014’s Edda. Although the boys’ reconciliation is somewhat abrupt, the underlying emotions will be familiar to many readers. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary Studio. (June)