Do You Know the Monkey Man

Peachtree Publishers 2005; Revised and Updated in 2018

Samantha’s quest to answer her questions about her past sets in motion a chain of events that will change her life forever.

For thirteen-year-old Samantha, life consists of too many unanswered questions. Why has her father not tried to contact her all these years? How could he have allowed her twin sister to drown in Clearwater Quarry when they were only toddlers? And how can Samantha’s mother expect her to accept some man she hardly knows as her new father? Samantha already has a father out there. Somewhere.

A fateful decision sets into motion a chain of events and confrontations that will change Samantha’s and her family’s lives forever. As she sets out to find her father and discover what really happened the day her sister was presumed drowned, she uncovers painful secrets that threaten to destroy her family all over again.

Readers will be drawn into Dori Butler’s dramatic, suspenseful, and sensitive story of one family’s crisis unwittingly brought on by an adolescent girl’s search for the truth.

Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Scholastic Book Club Edition, and e-book

Yes, I Know the Monkey Man

Peachtree Publishers 2009; Revised and Updated in 2018

What happens when everything you thought was true about your life turns out to be a lie?

Thirteen-year-old T. J. always believed that her twin sister and her mother were dead—because that’s what her father had told her. But Mom and Sam are very much alive. And now they want T. J. to be part of their family.

Life with Joe, her troubled but well-intentioned father, is all T. J. has ever known. Joe’s erratic lifestyle has meant lying to social workers and searching through garbage cans for food. But T. J. loves him and the grandmother who has provided stability in her life.

When T. J. reluctantly visits her mom and Sam for the first time, she is stunned by how similar she is to her twin sister in many ways, even though their lives have been very different. But while she is drawn to her new family, she is also wary of becoming attached to them and hurting her father’s feelings. When Joe suffers a debilitating accident and tries to ensnare T. J. in another web of lies, however, her loyalties are finally tested. Now she must confront the truth about her family, even if it hurts the people she loves.

In this thought-provoking companion to the popular Do You Know the Monkey Man?, author Dori Hillestad Butler has created a highly readable, complex portrait of a family in crisis. Her skillful portrayal of T. J., a conflicted adolescent struggling with her identity and reacting to family pressures, will resonate with readers.

Available in Hardcover, Paperback, and e-book

Sliding Into Home

Peachtree Publishers 2003

An adolescent girl learns that realizing a dream requires a good deal more than stubborn, steely resolve as she risks everything to follow her heart.

It’s not fair! Thirteen-year-old Joelle Cunningham is passionate about baseball. She loves to watch it, read about it, and, most of all, play it. But when her family moves from Minneapolis to the small town of Greendale, Iowa, she quickly discovers that there are strict rules preventing her from playing on the school baseball team.

At Hoover Middle School, only boys play baseball. Girls play softball. It’s not the same sport! Joelle tries to tell everyone. But no one is listening. Not Coach Carlyle—even though his baseball team is at the bottom of the league, he doesn’t want her on his team. Not Ms. Fenner, the softball coach—she wants Joelle to use her big league swing to benefit the girls’ team. Not her new friend, Elizabeth, who is growing tired of her complaints. Not even Jason, her older brother, who is too busy at college to be of much help.

But Joelle is determined to play baseball. And through some creative problem-solving and surprising alliances she finds a solution to her dilemma that brings the disputing sides together…and baseball to the girls of Greendale.

Author Dori Butler has created a high-spirited, indomitable character that young girls will admire and root for in this story of frustrated ambition and ultimate triumph.

Available in Hardcover, Paperback, and e-book

The Truth About Truman School

Albert Whitman & Co 2008

They just wanted to tell the truth.

When Zebby and Amr create the website thetruthabouttruman.com, they want it to be honest. They want it to be about the real Truman Middle School, to say things that the school newspaper would never say, and to give everyone a chance to say what they want to say, too.

But given the chance, some people will say anything—anything to hurt someone else. And when rumors about one popular student escalate to cruel new levels, it’s clear the truth about Truman School is more harrowing than anyone ever imagined.

Available in Hardcover, Paperback, & Scholastic Book Club Edition

Trading Places with Tank Talbott

Albert Whitman & Co 2003

All Jason Pfeiffer wants to do is finish his horror-movie script about his sister, but lately his life is full of horrors! His parents are making him take swimming lessons at the recreation center—and there’s nothing that Jason hates more than taking off his glasses and putting his face in the water. Except maybe having to deal with Tank Talbott.

All Tank Talbott ever wants to do is beat people up. (At least, that’s what Jason thinks.) But Tank’s at the rec center, too—because his parents are making him take ballroom dance classes! There’s nothing that Tank hates more than dancing with girls—except maybe being mistaken for a dork face like Jason. But that’s just what gives Jason a brilliant idea—trading places! The mismatched pair make the switch, and along the way, they learn some surprising things about friendship and courage.

Tank Talbott’s Guide to Girls

Albert Whitman & Co 2006

Tank’s summer is not shaping up the way he’d hoped. It’s bad enough that his three stepsisters will be sharing his cramped house for the summer vacation. Then he finds out that he has to work with a math tutor every day and fill a big notebook with his writing—just to pass fifth grade!

Tank wishes he could just sell his friend Jason’s movie script to Hollywood. After all, Tank is Jason’s agent. But passing fifth grade is a big deal too and soon, inspired by his brother’s breakup with Jason’s sister, Tank realizes he can fill his notebook writing a guide to girls. It will be a bestseller!

Tank has plenty of material to work with—his three stepsisters and Jason’s strange new interest in Kelly, the Mistress of Evil. What is up with that, anyway? Readers first met Tank and Jason in Trading Places with Tank Talbott. Dori Butler’s new novel featuring this pair of boys as they try to figure out what makes girls tick is sure to be a hit.

Available in Hardcover Only

Alexandra Hopewell, Labor Coach

Albert Whitman & Co 2005

By the time Alex Hopewell breaks her third egg in her fifth grade class’s Family Life Unit she’s earned the nickname “Alex Hopeless.” Since Mrs. Ryder won’t trust her with an egg, she has to write a report about child development. That’s when Alex announces that she is going to be her mom’s labor coach. There’s only one problem—she hasn’t told her mom yet! Things don’t always go easily for Alex. Her parents talked to Mrs. Ryder at the beginning of the year about her learning disorder, but Alex still thinks Mrs. Ryder hates her. Somehow Alex knows everything will be fine if only she can be there when the baby is born. Finally, her parents agree. Then Alex’s mother goes into labor early, and Alex gets a chance to prove what a great kid she really is.

Available in Hardcover Only
Ages 10 and Up