Struggling to make her way through the world in spite of her mother's refusal to let her learn sign language, hearing-impaired teen Joey Willis secretly learns to sign while helping a primate scientist and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. - (Baker & Taylor)
When thirteen-year-old Joey Willis, deaf since the age of six, meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his chimpanzee Sukari, who use sign language, her world blooms with possibilities but that of the chimp begins to narrow. - (Baker & Taylor)
Struggling to make her way through the world in spite of her mother's refusal to let her learn sign language, hearing-impaired teen Joey Willis secretly learns to sign while helping a primate scientist and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. By the author of Dolphin Sky. - (Baker & Taylor)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, but 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. She even starts making friends at school for the first time. 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.
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, but 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. She even starts making friends at school for the first time. 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.
- (McMillan Palgrave)
Ginny Rorby holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Miami and an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. Her young adult novel, Dolphin Sky, was nominated for the Keystone Reading Award. Ginny Rorby is also co-director of the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, now in its 15th year. She lives in Fort Bragg, California.
- (
Holtzbrinck)
Ginny Rorby holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Miami and an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. Her young adult novel, Dolphin Sky, was nominated for the Keystone Reading Award. Ginny Rorby is also co-director of the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, now in its 15th year. She lives in Fort Bragg, California.
- (
McMillan Palgrave)
Horn Book Guide Reviews
After befriending baby chimpanzee Sukari and her kindly caretaker, thirteen-year-old Joey, deaf since she was six, learns to sign--against her mother's wishes. Complex characters and a humanizing exploration of diverse issues make this a rewarding and rarely didactic read. The broad timespan forces Rorby to abandon some tantalizing tangents, but the story nevertheless inspires an awareness of animal rights. Copyright 2007 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 6-9 Joey Willis is deaf, and her mother won't allow her to learn American Sign Language. Her isolated existence is turned upside down, however, when she meets her elderly neighbor, Dr. Charles Mansell, and his sign-language-using chimpanzee, Sukari. Against her mother's wishes, Joey begins to learn to sign, and Charlie, whose parents were deaf, opens her eyes to a future filled with possibilities. When he dies, Sukari's fate is left in Joey's hands. Rorby has clearly done her research. From the dialogue gaps that allow youngsters to share the frustration even a skilled lip reader feels, to a brutal scene in a chimp-filled research facility, the wealth of details support but, unfortunately, often overwhelm the story. The tale is so dense that many plot threads are abruptly abandoned, and the narrative skips ahead at random intervals. Laden with issuesparent-child relationships, the treatment of research animals, and child abuse (Joey's deafness is the result of a beating by her father)the book often gets bogged down in its own seriousness. However, the writing shines when Rorby focuses on what is obviously her true passion: Sukari and the fate of chimpanzees like her.Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
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