Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer. Scholastic, 2014. 278 pages.

Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 15-18
Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18)

One-line Summary: Threatened, one of this year’s most honored YA novels, promotes a “natural man,” anti-civilization worldview.

As a boy, Luc felt threatened by the “mock men,” the chimpanzees who never ventured near his village but filled the night with their raucous screams. His mother warned him about them before she died. Now he’s living in the town of Franceville (Gabon, Africa), as the abused orphan help—that is, slave—of Monsieur Tatagani. When a distinctive stranger of Arab dress and refined manner appears at the Café de la Gare, Luc notices, but when the stranger shows a metal briefcase with a combination lock, he acts. If he can steal enough to get out from under Tatagani’s thumb, he might start a new and better life somewhere else. But the stranger is one step ahead. In fact, he may as well be from another planet—for, after catching Luc in the theft, he offers him a position as “research assistant.” It’s too good to pass up even though “the Prof” is bound for the Inside (i.e., the jungle) to study the very mock men Luc has been taught to fear, in imitation of one “janegoodall.”

Luc becomes a Robinson Crusoe in reverse, with the Inside standing in for the desert island. When tragedy befalls the Prof, Luc finds himself alone and must reach out to the closest thing to human he can find. In spite of his mother’s warnings he can’t be afraid of little Mango, the orphaned chimp toddler, but her big brother Drummer is another story. Other dangers include the broader primate colony (these chimps aren’t cute) as well as the invisible microbes, visible snakes, and predator humans. The novel avoids heavy-handed environmentalism and evolutionary theory, although that’s the underlying worldview. God is irrelevant: Missionary nuns had driven through on a bus last year and tested people for HIV. I went in and let them prick me because it was free and I got a cookie afterward. Then they wanted me to find God. But I said no because I didn’t know how; besides there was no cookie involved in that. Threatened was a National Book Award finalist this year and that’s understandable: the writing is beautiful and atmospheric. It can be read as an engrossing boy-in-the-wild story that raises interesting questions.

Cautions: Violence, Worldview (environmentalism), Language (one crude word)

Overall Value: 3.5 (out of 5)

• Moral/worldview value: 2.75
• Artistic value: 4.5

Categories: Realistic Fiction, Discussion Starter*, Young Adult, YA, Award Winners, Animals

Discussion questions:

• Literary element: How effectively does the author immerse us in “the Inside”?
• Thematic element: How are the chimpanzees like humans, and how not? What distinguishes Luc from them?
• Worldview element: On page 114, Luc imagines the Inside saying to him, “Yes, I will take everything. You will wind up alone here. But it will be beautiful.” How does this compare with the demands Jesus makes on his followers?

Cover image from Amazon