What People Are Saying

School Library Journal

"Stone has done a masterful job of managing an intricate plot, developing authentic characters, and writing well-described fight scenes. An easy and worthy sell to middle-grade readers."

Kirkus Reviews

"Amid much treetop back and forth with a mysterious old macaque, Malao torments his companions with continual chaffing, while participating in hyper-complicated pranks and well-described battles marked by stunning physical feats…stay tuned."

goodreads -Aelvana

“Malao, the Monkey, can't sit still when the temple where he's spent all his life is destroyed. But he doesn't have the strength to confront his enemies directly, so he does what a monkey does best: makes trouble. But as he's trying to save the Dragon scrolls and foil Ying's plans, he starts uncovering secrets. The second book in this series takes the unusual tactic of being more of a companion novel than a direct sequel. The events here start exactly where Tiger started, but it all plays out from Malao's perspective (and quite a bit of Ying's). Since the gaps from the first book, where Fu was off on his own, are generally places where Malao was involved, the gaps for the most part are filled in. But it is good the plot stretches beyond the end of Tiger and takes the boys farther on their quest. The strengths of the first book are equally strengths here: complex characters, a twisting plot, furious kung-fu. And this starts to broaden the story to the rest of the world, dropping some nice hints about certain relatives as well as laying a foundation for what looks to be an eventual plot against the Emperor. Given where this goes, you could almost start at either Tiger or Monkey, so it's not too important if you haven't read the first book yet. But it's a fast, fun read. I rate this book Recommended.”

goodreads -Conan Tigard

“A year had past since I read Tiger, but the book had always staying fresh in my mind because I liked it so much. Finally, when I received a copy of Monkey, I couldn't wait to start reading it. And, boy oh boy, was I truly happy that I did. The story takes up right where Tiger ends, but just changes its main character from Fu to Malao. With Fu, he was always so serious. I liked the whimsical Malao and his stinking feet a little better. Jeff Stone has created something quite special in his The Five Ancestors series of books. The books are incredibly fun to read and kids, especially boys, will love these books. I know I grew up watching Bruce Lee and loving martial arts movies. Kids today love the same thing, which is why I think they will eat this series right up. I also like the fact that each book focuses on a different monk with a unique fighting style and that the story takes place in 1650 AD. Overall, Monkey by Jeff Stone is another excellent book that I highly recommend for all readers. I am very excited to read the next book in this series entitled Snake. I rated this book a 9 out of 10.”

goodreads -Katy

“My 10.5 year-old-boy could not put this down and finished it in one day. That makes it a 5 star book in my rating system, even though I haven't read it. He also demanded, nicely, to go to the library and GET THE REST OF THE SERIES so that he could spend hours reading those too... can I put more than 5 stars?”

goodreads -Daniela

“I started reading it because my son was reading it, and he wanted his parents to read it too, so I thought it would be a good bonding thing, but then I got into it, and now I want to read all the volumes. It's one of those books you can't put down.”