Hurt Go Happy: A Novel Inspired by the Chhimpanzee

Hurt Go Happy is a captivating novel for young readers by beloved author Ginny Rorby. The Schneider Family Book Award-winning novel is inspired by the true story of a chimpanzee raised as a human.

Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she’s been deaf since the age of six, Joey’s mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her and often fails.

Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign. Spending time with Charlie and Sukari, Joey has never been happier. But as Joey’s world blooms with possibilities, Charlie’s and Sukari’s choices begin to narrow–until Sukari’s very survival is in doubt.

Hurt Go Happy is the unforgettable story of one girl’s determination to save the life of a fellow creature–one who has the ability to ask for help.

Hurt Go Happy is the winner of the Schneider Family Book Award. It’s also an International Literacy Association Teachers’ Choices selection, a Book Sense Children’s Pick, a KLIATT Editor’s Choice: Best of the Year’s Hardcover YA Fiction selection, and a New York Public Library “Books for the Teen Age” selection.