Mercy on These Teenage Chimps [Paperback]

Gary Soto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2008

On his thirteenth birthday, Ronnie woke up feeling like a chimp--all long armed, big eared, and gangly. Now his best friend, Joey, has turned thirteen, too--and after Joey humiliates himself in front of a cute girl, he climbs a tree and refuses to come down. So Ronnie sets out to woo the girl on Joey's behalf. After all, teenage chimps have to stick together.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—When friends Ronnie Gonzalez and Joey Rios turn 13, their arms suddenly seem to hang to their knees and their ears stick out. Ronnie finds himself juggling his fruit instead of eating it, and Joey is thrown off the wrestling team for hooting at his vanquished opponent. The boys agree-they've turned into chimps, just like lots of other young teens they've known. They're embarrassed by how gross they smell, how often they need to shower, and their strong interest in girls. For their simian behavior in class, the boys receive detention, and the coach puts them to work setting up the auditorium for a special assembly. There, Joey falls hard for an award-winning gymnast, and, during the ceremony, he climbs the rafters to rescue her lost balloon. When the coach berates him as she watches, he feels humiliated, runs home, climbs into the tree in his backyard, and won't come down. Ronnie tries to save his friend's reputation and gets into some adventures of his own. Mercy is a short, light novel with plenty of funny insights into what happens when puberty leaves a big banana peel in every adolescent male's path. The story is set in a Northern California town, but the messages it shares are universal.—Walter Minkel, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Ever since 13-year-old Ronnie and his best friend, Joey, hit puberty, they have felt particularly chimplike, with their "peachy fuzz" and "splayed ears." But when Coach Puddlefield angrily calls Joey a "monkey" after he shimmies up a rafter to show off for pretty Jessica, Joey takes offense and secludes himself in his tree house. Then Ronnie embarks on a humorous mission to find Jessica and convince her of Joey's love. While tracking her down, he converses with several of the neighborhood's colorful characters and brokers a truce with a playground bully. Peace is fully restored when Coach apologizes, Jessica joins Joey in the tree, and Ronnie realizes that you're only a monkey if you think you are. Like much of Soto's work, this novel hangs more on the quirky characterizations than on the plot, which sometimes seems meandering and aimless. But those middle-school students who can identify with the boys' goofy, self-conscious ways will eagerly embrace the affable Ronnie and Joey. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Graphia; 1 edition (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152062157
• ISBN-13: 978-0152062156
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( S ) > Soto, Gary

More About the Author

Born in Fresno, California to Mexican American parents, Gary Soto learned the hard work ethic through his share of chores, including mowing lawns, picking grapes, painting house numbers on street curbs, and washing cars. His hard work paid off at California State University at Fresno, from which he graduated with an English degree, and later at the University of California at Irvine, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.Gary Soto is an acclaimed poet, essayist, and fiction writer. The awards for this multi-talented author are many, ranging from the U.S. Award for International Poetry Forum in 1977 for his first published book of poetry, The Elements of San Joaquin, to a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award in 1985 for Living Up the Street, his first published work of prose recollections. His short story collection Baseball in April, was named an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In 1993 Gary Soto received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video for Pool Party, and in 1995 he was nominated for a National Book Award.His other credits include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. Gary Soto is also one of the youngest poets to appear in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Several of his books have been translated into French, Spanish and Italian.Too Many Tamales was named a Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choices of 1993. Hazel Rochman of Booklist said, "Gary Soto is an accomplished poet and adult writer, and his children's stories are widely popular. His first entry into the picture book genre is a joyful success."When he is not writing, Mr. Soto serves as a volunteer English teacher at his church. He also enjoys eating at new restaurants, which he does often with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Mariko. Other members of the Soto household include their two cats, Corky and Sharkie. The Soto family resides in Berkeley, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mercy on These Teenage Chimps, November 27, 2010

By 

Spencer C Raiskin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercy on These Teenage Chimps (Paperback)

Spencer Raiskin - Mercy on These Teenage Chimps

I liked this story. One of the reasons is that I can really relate to it because I am the same age as the main characters.

The setting is in the town of Pinkerton and it is April.

The plot is about a young boy (Ronald) who turns 13 and starts to look like a chimp including wide ears, wide mouth and long arms. Ronald and his best friend Joey, also a teenage chimp, juggle fruit as well as eat a lot of it. Ronald and his best friend Joey help their coach set up an award banquet. At the award banquet a teenage gymnast (Jessica) loses her balloon and Joey climbs up to the rafters and jumps to retrieve the balloon and falls to the ground so coach calls Joey a monkey. Joey feels humiliated in front of Jessica and climbs a tree and won't come down. Ronald tries to help by finding Coach Bear to tell him to apologize to Joey because he hurt his feelings. Ronald also wants to "play cupid" and get Joey and, the pretty teenage girl, (Jessica) together and Coach Bear and his wife back together because they are separated.

During the time Ronald tries to find Jessica and the coach, he meets a lot of new people and gets into a lot of situations. It was fun to read about all of the situations because some are funny and some are difficult which kept it interesting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, fast, and amusing glimpse at puberty, January 26, 2007

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercy on These Teenage Chimps (Hardcover)

Biology is a tricky thing, especially at 13. Just as we get to that age where we're figuring ourselves out and we exhibit some control over who we are, we go through a volcanic eruption and all the rules change. Our bodies rebel, our brainwaves scatter...and it's hard not to feel like someone --- or something --- else.

Ronnie Gonzalez and his best friend, Joey Rios, have just turned 13. As if their lives weren't already fraught with hardship, this magical new age brings with it a curious side effect: they have become chimps. At least that is how they perceive themselves (and how they believe they are perceived by others). Strange hair forms on their bodies, their eating habits go ape (pun intended) and their wild behavior begins to attract more attention than usual, often leading to the simian comparison.

It is a burst of this feral energy --- Joey scales walls and rafters at school to retrieve a balloon for a girl he likes --- that causes the boys' coach to chew out Joey and send the young man into a depression. Joey climbs up into a tree at home and resolves never to come down. Ronnie, who understands the value of friendship and asserts that he owes it to his brother-in-chimpdom, goes on a journey to find the girl Joey likes, believing that she alone can coax Joey out of the tree.

Like any good quest, Ronnie meets an assortment of quirky characters, some who help him along the path, others who offer obstacles to his goal. It is here where Gary Soto shines, crafting the heart and soul of the book through Ronnie's interaction with these people. While each flirts with being a caricature, Soto masterfully lends each a twist that prevents them from becoming so familiar as to be cardboard cutouts.

MERCY ON THESE TEENAGE CHIMPS is a fun, fast read that offers an amusing glimpse at that awkward age when the body and mind rebel and no one quite feels like themselves anymore. The good news Soto imparts: you adapt to the new body, you make peace with the new brainwaves, and you move on. And everything turns out fine.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey ([...]).

4.0 out of 5 stars Young readers, especially boys, will love this story, June 17, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mercy on These Teenage Chimps (Paperback)

Gary Soto, author of Accidental Love, offers another helpful work of fiction to teenagers stuck in the dramas of puberty, young love, and physical education classes. Mercy on These Teenage Chimps is an account of Ronnie and Joey, who both wake up on their thirteenth birthdays and discover that they have become chimpanzees overnight.

Ronnie and Joey are not literally chimpanzees, though one would be hard pressed to convince them of that in the midst of all the monkey-related humor in this novel. They are young men transitioning from childhood to adulthood by way of facial hair, body odor, and an attraction to a young lady at their school. It is in front if this young lady that the P.E. coach humiliates Joey, who then promptly decides to perch himself in a tree and not come down.

Ronnie, a loyal friend, attempts to rectify the offense, and to convince the cute girl to give Joey a chance. And if these two feats were not enough for a plot line, Ronnie also must confront bullies, his P.E. coach's estranged marriage, and his own struggles to accept himself. Despite his preoccupation with his similarities to monkeys, Ronnie manages to overcome, bringing this charming novel to a close with a flurry of awkward heroism.

Young readers will easily identify with the likable Ronnie and Joey. This amusing story of friendship and self-acceptance is sure to be a hit with adolescent males.

Note: This reviewer recommends this book to teenage boys who come into a major metropolitan library where she coordinates youth services.

Armchair Interviews says: Good to see a book for teen, especially boys.