Hurt Go Happy: A Novel

This one stayed with me for a long time. The poignant story of a Deaf girl who makes friends with an old man and his chimpanzee deals with issues of friendship, deafness, and animal rights.

Hurt Go Happy is the story of love, compasion, and understanding. When Joey goes off into the woods behind her house she finds an old man named Charlie. Charlie takes her up to his house and shows her around. Very soon Joey learns of another pet of Charlie's, a chimpanzee named Sukari. Sukari can

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also use sign language to talk. Charlie tries to teach sign language to Joey who is deaf, but Joey mother does not her to learn it. Joey's life goes smoothly but then one tragic earth quake changes everyones world.

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Hurt Go Happy is a very heartbreaking book. It's about the friendship of a young girl and a chimpanzee. I highly reccomend it to anyone who would like to settle down toa good book.

Rorby, Ginny . (2006). Hurt Go Happy. New York: Starscape, Tom Doherty Associates. 272 pp. ISBN 0-765-35304-0 (Paperback); $5.99 [Schneider Family Book Award-Teen]

From the age of six, Joey has been deaf. Joey is thirteen when our story opens and we follow Joey for close to six years. Joey’s

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mother, Ruth, harbors some deep-seated guilt, which manifests itself in her zealous desire to protect her daughter. Joey is not allowed to go to the beach when the weather is rough. Joey is not allowed to ride her bike. Joey screams at her mother that she is deaf not stupid and plenty old enough to take care of herself without doing something stupid. Joey’s anger brings her into the woods one day and she meets Dr. Charles Mansell (Charlie) who is willing to teach Joey American Sign Language despite the fact that Joey’s mother does not approve. Even more importantly, Joey meets Sukari, a chimpanzee who also speaks American Sign Language and serves as the bridge between Charlie, Joey’s deaf brother Luke, Ruth, and Joey. Chimpanzees, however cute they are as babies, also grow up and build muscles. Keeping a chimpanzee is not easy! Along the way, we gradually learn the full story behind Joey’s hearing loss. We also learn the possible, horrifying fate that awaits chimpanzees when they no longer are cute, cuddly babies. This book is the teen winner of the Schneider Family award for its sensitive and honest portrayal of how deafness effects Joey and her world (the Schneider Family award is given to books that artfully feature differently-abled individuals—not necessarily books featuring deaf characters). Based on a true story of a chimpanzee raised as a human child, Hurt Go Happy is a touching story that is difficult to put down once started.

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Rorby has written a powerful book. The characters are well-drawn and ring true. This story is a tear-jerker that raises the topics of abuse and animal cruelty, which are handled sensitively. This fast-moving plot will propel readers to find out what happens next and perhaps to learn more about the

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humane treatment of animals.

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Hurt go Happy is about a girls life who has hearing problems. She meets a man with a monkey who can do sign language. She learns to communicate without reading lips and struggling. This is a heartwarming story that you will not ever want to put down and never forget.

This is a book about a deaf girl who's mother will not allow her to learn sign language, because she (the mom) feels it would make her a freak. But she is really wants to learn how and ends up being taught how by an old man and his chimpanzee.

I really liked this book, it had an interesting story

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line, even if you quickly realized the real case for her deafness. This was a sad book, happy most of the time, but sad.

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Hurt go happy was a really emotional story it was really sad but still really good its an amazing book that makes you fall in love with every caracter even if you think you wont. i loved it and would recomend it to anybody that likes books like my sisters keeper or love animals.

Joey is a 14yr old girl who lost her hearing when she was seven. The first half of the story deals with her struggles with her mother over learning ASL and making friends with an old man and his chimpanzee (who can sign). The second half of the book (roughly) deals with Joey's fight to save the

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chimp from being used as a test subject for pesticides.

This book is young adult fiction through and through, based on my experience. There's enough school life, friends, and boys to have that area accounted for in the story, but it plays a very small role in the larger story -- which reflects reality, to some extent. Characters are mostly flat and static, though Joey is more round and dynamic -- though not in unexpected ways. Actually, I hate the mother character: she is ridiculously closed minded to ASL. She's so controlling, I don't understand how Joey could have "grown so close" to her mother, though if that's the only person you're able to communicate with, and you've shared some horrific experiences with them, you will development attachment.

Overall, a tear-jerker and endearing, and a good communicative story about being deaf and learning sign.

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Joey is deaf, living with her mother, stepfather, and brother in California, when she meets an elderly man with an adopted chimpanzee who can speak sign language. The relationship that blossoms between the deaf girl and the adopted chimpanzee is the core of the book. The book goes beyond describing

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what it is like to be an outsider, whether you are a human or an animal. It touches on what it takes to truly communicate with another soul.

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Joey is thirteen when this story begins, and she has lost her hearing due to a beating by her father when she is six years old. She now lives with her mother, stepfather, and young brother. Both she and her mother are still trying to deal with their tragic life with her father. Her mother refuses

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to let Joey learn any sign language, believing she is better off just learning to lip read. It takes her friend and neighbor, Charlie, to convince her mother what a disservice this is to Joey. Her mother slowly relents, realizing how isolated Joey is from the rest of the world without a more effective means of communication. Joey falls in love with Sukari, a signing chimpanzee that lives with Charlie, and she eventually goes to great lengths to save Sukari from an animal testing lab after Charlie's death.
Very sad book - made me cry and cry and cry, and cry hard. Author does a good job of illustrating how Joey "hears" others. She uses regular text for spoken word, showing gaps where Joey was not able to lip read; she uses bold text for notes that are written out for Joey; and she uses capitol letters for signed communication. This makes it much easier to follow just how people (and chimps) are communicating with her.

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This may be my favorite YA read so far! This is about a deaf girl, Joey, whose mother doesn't want her to learn to sign; she meets a man whose parents were deaf, so he is able to teach his pet chimpanzee to sign; then Joey begins a friendship with the chimpanzee through sign language -- well, it's

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hard to describe, but I could hardly put it down! I highly recommend it for any age!

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I loved this book. I have a degree in Anthropology, and one of the most disturbing aspects of my coursework was experiencing directly how our close relatives are held in captivity so we can "observe" and often experiment on them. Ms. Rorby bases her story on the real abuses that have occurred when

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chimpanzees and other primates are sent off to what are basically prisons to live out the rest of their lives once their initial usefulness is over. Ms. Rorby let's us see the world through a deaf girl's eyes, and relates her own developing relationship to the world to that of Sukari, the chimpanzee who is also learning sign language. The developing bond between the two is presented with a deft touch. The book is realistic in showing that not all families are happy or "normal."
The moral dilemma Sukari's captivity presents is painful but is ultimately resolved in a way that is realistic yet satisfying. Young readers will appreciate the happy ending.

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Joey is used to being left out of conversations. She's been deaf since she was 6 and only fitfully reads lips. Her life changes drastically when she meets Sukari, a baby chimpanzee who uses American Sign Language. Suddenly Joey has a new friend and, more importantly, a reason to learn to sign. This

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is a heart-warming, ultimately triumphant look at a girl and an ape who need each other. This is a terrific read for anyone who loves animals and/or is interested in the challenges of being deaf.

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