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2002
finalists.

2002 Hackmatack

Children's Choice Book Award/Prix littéraire - le choix de jeunes

The hero of Duff the Giant Killer is back in a new adventure full of fun and excitement! Because Duff has a very active imagination, no-one believes him when he announces that he has found a real-live monkey living in their barn! Duff and his best friend Simon secretly take care of the monkey, who they name Mulligan, but when they bring other people to see their new friend, he will never appear, making it look like the two boys are telling a whopper of a tall tale.

Their parents, teachers, priests and doctors all become very concerned about the boys' strange behaviour - supposedly lying and "seeing monkeys" and their friends get tired of hearing about this monkey that does not seem to exist. Life starts to become difficult for the boys and Mulligan but then the circus comes to town and events take a new and surprising turn. Could Mulligan be the missing monkey from the circus? Could the boys have been telling the truth after all? Will all this "monkey business" have a happy ending?

A fun first chapter book for readers 7-10.