Baboon.

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Fans of Peter Dickinson’s Eva will enjoy Baboon as the two books share a common plot device—an adolescent’s awakening in a primate’s body. Gerry Copeland’s scientist parents divide their year between Croydon, England, and Tanzania’s savannah where, accompanied by 14-year-old Gerry, they have been studying a troop of some 40 baboons for three years. As the Copelands return to their research site after resupplying, their small plane, on which the trio are the sole passengers, develops mechanical problems and crash-lands. When Gerry regains consciousness, he finds himself in the body of a baboon. Although the pilot is dead, Gerry’s parents have survived the crash, and he observes them tending to his unconscious human body before an ambulance takes “him” away. Gerry posits several explanations for finding himself a monkey, but, when none are self-convincing, he moves on with being a baboon, a state in which he stays for almost eight months as he joins the very troop his parents had been researching. Initially, Gerry retains all his human knowledge, which provides him with some advantages, including the skill to fashion a club to defend himself. However, as time passes, Gerry finds his human abilities, such as telling time, counting, reading, and writing, decline while his baboon attributes, like sharpened senses of vision and smell, increase. Jones, who has a degree in biology, imparts a great deal of information about baboon life, but the facts are naturally embedded in the fascinating storyline as Gerry, initially low in the troop’s pecking order, learns how to be a baboon. Highly recommended.