1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza Loses Control. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. ISBN 0374399891
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Joey Pigza is going to spend the summer with the father he has never met. When Joey’s mother takes Joey and his beloved Chihuahua, Pablo, to his father’s house for court ordered visitation, Joey is nervous about meeting the father who his mother says is “wired like him, only bigger.” Joey has learned to manage his ADHD with medication patches and techniques he was taught in Special Ed. classes, but still feels different. His father, on the other hand, is as wired as Joey was without medication, and self-medicates with alcohol. Joey is able to connect to his father through baseball, because his father, Carter, is coaching a team and discovers that Joey has a great pitching arm. During the troubled time of the visit, Joey’s father decides that Joey needs to stop taking his ADHD medication and take control of his own life, so he flushes the patches down the toilet. Joey knows it’s only a matter of time until the old out of control Joey shows up.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In this second book of the Joey Pigza series, Jack Gantos continues the evolution of a believable character who other children can relate to. This story shows Joey coping with the problems of divorced parents, ADHD, and a grandmother who is very ill. Gantos has created a story with a tone which is both serious and humorous. Joey’s father’s alcoholism and denial that he has a problem makes it difficult for Joey to build the relationship he desperately wants with his father. Joey’s somewhat gruff Grandmother is seriously ill with emphysema and still smoking. Joey would secretly like it if his parents got back together, but both assure him that isn’t going to happen. Joey struggles to control his own ADHD and try to be a normal kid. There are humorous situations in the story too. Joey shuts poor Pablo in the glove box because he throws up in the car, refuses to pitch unless Pablo can be there with him, (tucked inside of his shirt), and poses as a mannequin in a store window. Readers will be drawn into this story as Joey grows to understand himself and the often fallible people who are important in his life.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY review: "Like its predecessor, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor, pain, fear and courage with deceptive ease."
BOOKLIST review: “Few children these days don't know someone wrestling with ADHD; meeting up with Joey is a fine way to gain insight into the problems "hyper" children face. But the story is more than message. Gantos’ skillful pacing, sly humor, and in-depth characterization make it a truly memorable read.”
5. CONNECTIONS
*An ideal opening for a class discussion about current issues, and how children can cope with them in constructive ways.
*On page 52, Joey says that he feels like two Joeys: Mom’s Joey & Dad’s Joey. He asks his dad if he has ever felt like two people at once. Ask students if they have ever felt like two people at once. Have them write a composition explaining how they felt and why they felt that way.
*Students should pretend they are Joey writing a letter or post card to his Mom. What would they say?
*Joey and his dad connect over baseball. Students could create baseball cards using the characters in the story as the players. How would they describe each one? They could include Joey’s grandma, and even Pablo.
Gantos, Jack. 2000. Joey Pigza swallowed the key. ISBN 0-613-28228-0
Gantos, Jack. 2002. What would Joey do? ISBN 0-374-39986-7
Gantos, Jack. 2007. I am not Joey Pigza. ISBN 0374399417
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