The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea

Gr 4–7—Throckmorten S. Monkey worried that he would spend his remaining days in a fishy-smelling net hung over his keeper's four-poster bed with a slew of other abandoned stuffed animals. But the sock monkey's prospects improve when he receives an invitation to Mrs. Ethel Constance Easterly's 90th birthday party. The invitation has been extended to all of the sock monkeys the Easterly matriarch has crafted for her descendants, and the appearance of said monkeys is instrumental in getting a piece of Ethel's inheritance. The impending party stirs up more than abandoned stuffed playthings—it starts Throckmorten and his keeper, Annaliese, on a path of discovery, a path that will eventually lead to the mystery surrounding Annaliese's mother's departure. Beha's concept is interesting and the sentient monkey's observations of life around Eastcliff manor are charming. The story line meanders and has an old-fashioned sensibility, though some readers may wish for a stronger payoff at the end after the complex setup.—Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY