Rating: 
(222 reviews)
Author: Jack Gantos
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Amazon.com
Joey Pigza has problems. Big problems. He was emotionally abused by his grandmother. He has never met his dad. He can’t get along in his elementary school classroom because of his mood swings and his “dud meds.” We gradually see that Joey must have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which is not being effectively controlled with his current medication. Joey’s life is a terrifying roller-coaster ride, and Jack Gantos, author of the Rotten Ralph books, drags the reader along to see what life is like with ADD. The story is written from the boy’s point of view in a sharp, worried style that veers out of control when Joey does. Joey’s control of his own behavior slips away as we read, horrified to see this boy trying to get a grip on his life and failing. He disrupts the class field trip; he puts his finger in a pencil sharpener and injures himself; he swallows his house key. Then he runs through the classroom holding open sharp scissors. When he trips and falls, seriously injuring a classmate, he is transferred to a special-education program in another school. Here, thankfully, he encounters a caring teacher who recommends further medical evaluation, and Joey is eventually able to return to his former school. There is hope for Joey on the last page–he sits in the Big Quiet Chair to read. Gantos has achieved an unusual feat with this book. We want to turn away from Joey’s shifting prison of emotions. But for those who stick with him, he shows us what his life is like. We walk a mile in his shoes, our feet hurting all the way. For young readers touched by ADD–and for their teachers and parents–Joey gives us the key to his world. (Ages 10 and older) –Marcie Bovetz
Product Description
Joey Pigza can’t sit still. He can’t pay attention, he can’t follow the rules, and he can’t help it — especially when his meds aren’t working. Joey’s had problems ever since he was born, problems just like his dad and grandma have. And whether he’s wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey’s problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening to send him to the special-ed center downtown.
Joey knows he’s really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?
Download Description
Wired bad, wired mad, wired sad, or wired glad . . . there’s no doubt about it — Joey Pigza is wired. He can’t sit still, he can’t pay attention, and he can’t follow the rules. The doctors say he’s got Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. Joey just feels like he’s on a roller-coaster ride and can’t get off — especially when his meds aren’t working. And lately Joey’s behavior is so off the wall his teachers are threatening to send him to a special ed center downtown. Joey knows he’s really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right? In Joey Pigza, award-winning author Jack Gantos has created one of the most irrepressible, irresistible characters to come along since Beverly Cleary’s Ramona. A seriously comic tale of life in the hyperfast lane, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a book that will make readers stand up and cheer.
5 Comments
Joey pigza can’t sit still. He can’t pay attention. He can’t follow the rules, and he can’t help it-especially when he was born. He has problems jus like his dad and grandma have. And whether he’s wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey’s problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening send him to the special-ed center downtown. Joey knows he’s really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?
This book does an incredible job portraying the life of a boy who tries to be “normal” but isn’t. Joey is hyperactive, impulsive, and has a hard time paying attention to whoever happens to be talking to him. He is accident-prone and is eventually sent to a “special” school to get help. Though it sounds like some kind of lame after-school special, it is not at all preachy or saccharine or corny. It is quite funny to read about Joey’s predicaments, and keeps my little ADHD boy listening for at least a couple of chapters at a time. He has even volunteered to read to me for short periods, and was delighted to come across the word “damn” in a story. We have been working our way through for a while now, but the book is quite a bit beyond D’s reading level. I’m sure that this will be one of the chapter books that we’ll finish though. It is very tempting to me to pick it up and finish it after he’s gone to bed, but I really want to read it together. Hopefully, we will go on to read the other books in the series.
An excellent look at life through someone else’s eyes for kids with ADHD and their family and friends. Extra points for realistic yet sympathetic dysfunctional family issues - perfect for foster or adopted children.
For the first time in my life, I legitimately felt ADHD. Jack Gantos does a fabulous job delving into the mind, heart, and life of a boy with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and readers will undoubtedly emerge from the story with a greater empathy for children like Joey.
“At school they say I’m wired bad, or wired mad, or wired sad, or wired glad, depending on my mood and what teacher has ended up with me. But there is not doubt about it. I’m wired.”
Joey Pigza can’t control himself. Whether in class during math drills or at home trying to take a bath or at the doctor’s office with the stethoscopes and Band-aids, it doesn’t matter because Joey is hyper, wired so bad that he can’t sit still long enough to get any work done or keep himself out of trouble. Joey doesn’t like to think about “Why” and if you ask him he’ll just respond with “Can I get back to you on that?” His teachers can’t handle his classroom antics and sometimes even worry about the safety of the other children.
It’s not all Joey’s fault, though. Sure, he should learn to make good decisions, but if his pills didn’t always end up being duds, things sure would be easier. His family life isn’t the greatest either since he lives with his grandma because his dad is an alcoholic and bounced off to Pittsburgh or somewhere and his mom let him at grandma’s to be taken care of, so you’d think when mom returns home and takes Joey off of grandma’s hands, that life would get better, and it does, though just like in life things often have to get worse, even much much much worse, before they get better.
Joey’s is a hopeful story. With so many kids in Special Ed, from those severely handicapped to those with mild dyslexia, stories like Joey’s bring hope that those kids who don’t see themselves as normal, who aren’t seen as normal by friends and enemies, and who certainly don’t feel normal, might one day BE normal again. A National Book Award Finalist and ALA Notable Children’s Book, JOEY PIGZA SWALLOWED THE KEY is a hilarious story written in an ingeniously attention-deficit style that will knock your retainer out with laughter, all the while touching your heart and stirring your soul.
— Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens
This book is an excellent portrayal of life with ADHD. It has a happy ending when Joey learns that even though he’s hyper and has bad things happen, he’s never himself been a bad kid. He realizes he’s got a good heart. It gives a nice portrayal of caring professionals who have nothing but Joey’s welfare in mind.
What is alarming to me about this book, and what hasn’t been addressed by any of the other reviewers, is that the story deals with some really heavy issues like severe emotional abuse and alcoholism. I actually found my eyes filling with tears at some moments in the book, because such things are all too real for too many children. Joey himself is still sorting through the emotional abuse and recognizes the drinking to be wrong. His mom admits that she was away for so long because she was trying to sober up, yet she continues to drink amaretto every evening. She tells Joey that he’d have to look in the bars if he were wanting to see his father. Still, she is a hero because of her love for Joey. She believes in him and loves him unconditionally. The story also deals pretty frankly with special needs children and deformities, which is not at all inappropriate, but may take some readers off guard. It’s all done with tenderness and respect, but might be more than some children can handle without discussing it with a parent.
I would recommend that a parent read this story first in order to decide if it’s appropriate for their child or not. It might also be necessary to discuss some of these heavier issues, as the book is not just about understanding hyperactive kids.
Joey Pigza Swallowed the key
Author Jack Gantos
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by author Jack Gantos is about a kid named Joey and he is always hyper, His mom goes running after Joey’s dad, so he is left with his grandmother who is usually mean to him. But when Joeys mom comes home, the grandmother runs away and he gets medication from the doctor that is supposed to calm him down. It would work for awhile, but then were off so then he is making bombers stickers and he had safety scissors that couldn’t cut through the construction paper so he went to the teachers cupboard and got the extra sharp teacher scissors. He was running back when Maria walked in the way and joey trips and cuts off the tip of her nose and got suspended. Then he tried to go to Maria hose and say he was sorry but Maria’s dad answered the door and ran joey off then joey got sent to Special ed school and he meat charley who didn’t have arms and then he meat special ed the teacher who showed joey around the school. He went to the doctors to get a check up and the doctor said to go to the hospital in Pittsburgh and have a brain check. After the tests were done Joey’s head was fine and he got to go back to his old school. One of the important parts of the book is when Joey swallows the key because the teacher cut of the string that he would pull after he swallowed the key. Another is when he goes to the field trip and he hurts his ankle, and when he’s at school and trying to make bumper stickers for his mom but the safety scissors he had couldn’t cut through the construction paper. So he went to the teachers drawer and got the extra sharp teacher scissors while he was warring a bunny slipper from special ed and he was running with the scissors and Maria Bombrow Ski walked in the way and he tripped over the ear of bunny slipper. He feel and then before he hit the ground there was scramming and Joey thought that it was him scramming until he saw that he cut of the tip of Maria’s nose.
This book is worth reading sense was a very good book and had lots of funny parts to it and parts when your worried about joey and others when there are parts that couldn’t be thought of by the reader. Yes there are more of Joey Pigza books and I would read them.