The Monkey Trial: John Scopes and the Battle over Teaching Evolution

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Highly engaging and deeply compelling, the riveting examination of the notorious trial of a teacher whose arrest for teaching reverberates to this day releases in paperback for the one hundredth anniversary of the infamous Scopes trial.

Anita Sanchez captures the passion, personalities, and pageantry of the infamous “Monkey Trial,” highlighting the quiet dignity of a teacher who stood up for his students’ right to learn. When John Scopes defied Tennessee state law to teach his students about evolution in 1925, his resulting trial ignited a firestorm. A breathless international audience followed every detail, as reporters, vehement protestors, and even real monkeys mobbed the courthouse to witness the bitter argument over who controls what students learn—a fight that pitted science against religion and that continues to this day. In a compelling and meticulously researched account, Sanchez brilliantly weaves primary sources and vivid writing together to give readers new insights into the notorious trial and its ongoing implications.

About the Author

Anita Sanchez is an environmental educator and the award-winning author of many nonfiction books for children, including Itch!: Everything You Didn't Want to Know About What Makes You Scratch, Rotten!: Vultures, Beetles, Slime, and Nature's Other Decomposers, and Hello, Puddle! Visit Anita online at anitasanchez.com.