You may have wondered why I chose a monkey as my main character in "The Blessed Bananas." I still remember the night my dad came home from work and brought my sister and me our very first stuffed animal. He used to work in the city from morning to night. As immigrants, my family worked long hours to make ends meet. My younger sister and I were oblivious as kids to the reality of our financial situation. We didn't notice the lack of toys, books, new clothes or even food. What