Beep the Costa Rican squirrel monkey is an endearing doomsayer with a dire warning. The eponymous hero of Beep by Bill Roorbach generously detours from his quest for a mate to "moodle" an alert to "you-mens": the world is in trouble. With Beep, Roorbach (Lucky Turtle; The Remedy for Love) has created a narrator equal parts credible and curious as he embarks on his journey from "monkeydom." His unexpected adventure begins when a human girl named Inga, who is vacationing in Costa Rica, camouflages Beep among her "stuffees" and smuggles him onto a "meddle roarbird." He's hopeful that his new friend--obviously a "sensitive" among the you-mens--is moving him toward finding his queen. But Beep finds "Madhattan" and the extent of "degradation of the plamet" horrifying. Secure in Inga's care, Beep is inspired when the two of them hear Greta Thunberg speak, and a trip to the "Bronzoo" prompts action: the "prizzoners" there, "electro-separated" into enclosures, hail him as "Freemonkey," the long-awaited hero of a prophecy of liberation.
Readers will quickly moodle the animals' language and Beep's intuitive sense of the urgency of their plight, which reflects the planet's crisis. Beep accepts his leadership role as Freemonkey yet never loses his sense of humor ("I monkey-splained, forgive me") or his optimism that he will meet his mate, as he, Inga, and the captives combine their skills to outwit the zoo staff. The hilarity of the breakout and Beep's confidence that sensitive humans will save the planet--plus the sweet love story underlying his quest--make Beep an entertaining and hopeful novel of Earth's environmental emergency. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.