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Ben's dad wants a chimp for an experiment to see if he can teach it sign language. They move to Victoria, Canada because there's a university there that has offered to get Ben's dad a chimp. A few days after they get to the house, Ben's mom brings home the baby chimp.
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Half Brother takes place in Victoria, Canada in 1973. It's currently summer break.
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Zan is the chimp used in the experiment. Ben is Zan's "brother." Sarah is Ben and Zan's mother. Richard is Ben and Zan's father.
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Ben is uncomfortable with Zan in his family, and he doesn't really want him there. He claims he's not jealous, even though he kind of is.
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Ben's parents start hiring students to help take care of Zan and teach him sign language.
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Zan learns his first sign, "hug," which Ben taught him.
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Ben's dad had been counting on getting a huge grant for Project Zan. He found out he didn't get it.
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Ben's dad brings in a learning chair for Zan because he thinks it'll help him learn sign language. It doesn't. It actually slows Zan's learning down because he hates the chair.
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Ben is taken off Project Zan. His father claims that he's "become too emotionally attatched to Zan."
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Greg Jaworski, a famous linguist from the States, comes up to help out with Project Zan.
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Zan's vocabulary is up to 45 words!!! And counting....
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Ben's dad decides to shut down Project Zan. He claims Zan is learning words, not language.
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Ben's dad officially makes the announcement that he's sold Zan to Jack Helson, a guy who owns a ranch and does non-biomedical experiments on his animal test subjects.
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Zan meets Rachel, another chimp at Helson's ranch, and they become best friends.
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Ben is sent to therapy because he's depressed about losing Zan. He admits that Zan is more than an animal test subject; he's Ben's brother.
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During a phone conversation, Peter, who's down at Helson's ranch with Zan, tells Ben how Zan is doing. Zan doesn't want to socialize with the other chimps, and therefore isn't accepted by them.
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Ben and his mom take a 2 week trip to visit Zan. They find a letter that belongs to Jack Helson and open it. The letter says that he's going to sell Zan to the Thurston Foundation, a place that does biomedical experiments, even though he promised not to.
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Ben, his mom, and Peter steal Zan from Helson. They arrive back in Victoria on June 26.
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Ben's dad says that Zan has to go back to Helson, so Ben runs away with Zan to prevent him from leaving.
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The media heard about Ben running away and made public what Jack Helson planned to do to Zan. Helson denied it all, and in the end, Ben and his family bought Zan back for $1.
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Ben and his family take Zan to a sanctuary and say goodbye for the last time.
