A review by nerfherder86
Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

4.0

Luc, a teenaged AIDS orphan in the African country of Gabon, is barely subsisting in his tiny village, living with other orphans under the harsh eye of the Fagin-like Monsieur Tatagani, who forces Luc to give him every penny he earns from carrying tourists' luggage (or from stealing). Luc has hopes of someday paying off his mother's hospital debt and leaving to find a better life. But when Luc steals a case from one of those tourists, an Arab professor, he gets more than he imagined when the professor pays off his debts and hires Luc to be his assistant. They are going "Inside", into the jungle wilderness, to study chimpanzees. Luc is up for anything that will get him away from the horrible Monsieur Tatagani, but he is not sure anywhere will be safe from the evil man once he discovers the Prof paid him with counterfeit money! But in the meantime, Luc will go along with the Prof in search of "mock men," whom Luc has never seen in person; he's only heard their cries and the legends told about them by villagers. And so begins Luc's transformation, as he comes to know a young pair of chimpanzee siblings he names Drummer and Mango, and learns how to survive among chimps in the wild. He goes through quite a lot; he is already familiar with the basics of jungle survival, but what he learns about chimps from the Prof he must then expand upon as his circumstances change and he is alone in the jungle. He braves the elements, the aggression of male chimps, and the attacks of hunters and other predatory animals. A fantastic story of survival and of nature. As with Schrefer's earlier novel [b:Endangered|13591678|Endangered|Eliot Schrefer|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1339453693s/13591678.jpg|19179750], the author's research shows in his detailed, realistic depictions of the setting and the primate characters; you really get a sense of what life is like for wild chimpanzees. I thought this book was even more realistic than his first, because the first book's main character went through such an incredible cross-country ordeal that it really stretched credulity that she came out of all of that alive. Luc has a lot of similar trials, and also has to learn the ways of a primate (chimps instead of bonobos), but it didn't seem quite so extraordinary this time because it all took place in the same setting. Helpful author's note at the end lists many books and sources for learning more about the plight of chimpanzees and of AIDS orphans.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book and am writing this review based on that copy.