Hurt Go Happy

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.

Young Adult novelist, Ginny Rorby, is the author of Dolphin Sky, (Putnam, '96) Hurt Go Happy, (Tor Books, '06) The Outside of a Horse, (Dial Books, '10) and Lost in the River of Grass, (Lerner Books, March '11) Dolphin Sky was nominated for the Keystone Reading Award. Hurt Go Happy was a Junior Library Guild, a Scholastic Book Fair selection, has been nominated for reading awards in six states and won the ALA's 2008 Schneider Family Book award. The Outside of a Horse is a Scholastic Book Fair selection, and Lost in the River of Grass is a Junior Library Guild selection, a Scholastic Book Fair selection, and has just been nominated for the Sunshine State Reading award.
 
Ginny was raised in Winter Park, Florida, and lived in Miami during her career as a Pan American flight attendant. She holds an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Miami, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University. Her goal, after wrapping up her flying career and her graduate studies, was to move someplace where she would never be hot again. She now lives on the chilly coast of northern California with her thirty-year-old parrot and way too many cats. Ginny is director emeritus of the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference and continues her involvement with this 23 year-old institution. She served as President of the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society for seven years, was on the board of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, is past president of the Point Cabrillo Lightkeeper's Association, and continues to serve on the PCLK board of directors.