Joey Pigza Loses Control - Realistic Fiction



Bibliography:

Gantos, Jack. 2000. JOEY PIGZA LOSES CONTROL. New York: Scholastic Inc. 0-439-33898-0.

Plot Summary:

Joey Pigza is a young boy who has ADD and has gone to live with his father for the summer.  Joey and his Dad are looking to start over and get a real father son relationship started.  Joey’s mother is rather nervous about the arrangement and Joey understands why when he sees his father for the first time.  “When I looked in the mirror I could see it in my eyes, and now I could see it in his.  Even with my medicine working real good.  I felt nervous inside he was so hyper.  Now I knew what Mom meant when she said he was like me, only bigger.”  Unfortunately Joey’s summer and the relationship between he and his father does not turn out the way he would have liked. 

Critical Analysis:

The characters in Joey Pigza Loses Control are very real characters; they have characteristics that many children will be able to identify with.  Joey is a sweet young boy who loves his dog Pablo but he also suffers from ADD which is a constant struggle for Joey and his Mom.  Joey’s Mom is a hard worker who wants the best for Joey and it is very difficult for her to drop Joey off at his father’s house for the summer as she is the most familiar with who this man really is.  Joey’s father is someone who has struggled with his own demons for a long time; he has suffered from alcoholism and a smoking addiction but he also suffers from many of the same ADD characteristics that Joey does.  These are all very real characteristics for people to have and ones that are very difficult for anyone to deal with.    

Joey Pigza Loses Control is a great realistic fiction novel for older children and younger teens to read but I wonder based on the subject matter how many children will seek this book out on their own.  The plot line is a serious one, dealing with very serious issues.  I like that the main character is male because I believe there are many books available dealing with similar issues for girls with the main character being female but not so much for boys.  There isn’t any sugar coating these serious subject matters and they are realistically represented within the storyline.  This book is a great way to open a conversation about a serious subject matter such as ADD or alcoholism.  The style in which the book was written is very natural and the way a young teen would actually speak, and the things Joey does are realistic such as play baseball.  At the beginning of the story Joey is bored playing his trumpet so he starts throwing things and pretending he’s throwing things at a moose which ultimately gets him into trouble, this is such a typical boy thing to do! 

Many children have to spend time between parents due to separation and divorce so I am sure many children can identify with the scene within the book where Joey’s mom is dropping him off at his Dads house for the summer.  She gives him emergency quarters for the pay phone if he needs it and an emergency $20.  It is clear she is scared to leave her son which I’m sure many children have seen in the eyes of their own mothers or fathers as they were dropped off to spend time with another parent or caregiver.  Scenes such as this one make this book so incredibly real and identifiable for children.  It’s heartbreaking to think so many children can identify with such aspects of the book but at the same time it’s reassuring to children that others experience similar things and feel the same way.    

Review Excerpts and Awards:

Newbery Honor Book

National Book Award Finalist

ALA Notable Book of the Year

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Connections:

• This is a book that would be best read with a parent or teacher out loud to allow a discussion of what is occurring in the story.  This story takes on such topics of ADD, divorce, dysfunctional adults, and alcoholism which can be very difficult for children to understand and then verbalize.  Joey gives a voice to these issues and it’s a great opportunity to have an open discussion or to write down personal thoughts of how any of this has affected each child or if each of them knows of someone that one of these issues has affected.  Creating a conversation about these topics is very important, it would allow a child to ask questions and get answers of why things happen the way they do.  It can be difficult for children to understand adult relationships and why they don't work sometimes or if an adult is suffering from a very serious illness such as alcoholism.