Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos is a wonderful book for children due in part to its really realistic nature. It was named a Newbery Honor Book in 2001, and while it claims to be for children between the ages of 12-14, I think that a much older audience would also enjoy it. Joey Pigza is a typical boy who has, until now, been without a father. He is on medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, also. I know many children that fit this profile. His father is an alcoholic, and while he is anxious to get to know him, he is scared. He is afraid that his father, Carter, and his grandmother won’t like his Chihuahua, Pablo, that they won’t like pizza, and that his grandmother will try to put him in the refrigerator. It turns out that Carter made a conscious effort to change his son’s perception about him, and Joey tries to stop taking his meds. He tries to help the baseball team that his father coaches win the championship, but when he fails to take his meds, he makes them lose (at least that’s what everyone says) by wandering away to find his mom, and his father becomes really angry. Unfortunately, Joey realizes that he is similar to his father but that his father will not change, and so he is ready to go back to live with his mother.
I adored this book. Children have several hundred books at their disposal, but books that they can actually apply to their life experiences are fewer. This book takes children into the life of a character with whom they can identify. I know several children who have these problems, and my parents were divorced, also. I can really identify with this character, and I know that children do. I also loved the dog in the book and Joey’s relationship with him.
Jack Gantos is also the author of Joey Pigza Swallows the Key, The Jack Henry Series, about his alter ego, and The Rotten Ralph series. The Rotten Ralph Series is for a younger audience, and each of these three sets of series books feature the same characters throughout.
Children’s literature is meant for entertainment and often times to teach. In this particular book, we learn that children every where face the same obstacles. I would really recommend this book for children who struggle with A.D.H.D. and even to the ones who do not to become more associated with the disorder. I would also recommend the book to students whose parents are divorced especially if they want them to get back together. Adult struggles become those of the children involved, and they need to understand that while they feel powerless, sometimes there is really nothing that they can do to help.
References
Gantos, Jack. (2000). Joey Pigza loses control. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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