What You Need to Know:
• Joey Pigza Loses Control is a well-written account of young Joey's challenging life as a sufferer of ADD and caught
between two parents.
• Joey has to face some big issues and make some major decisions, essentially without any help from the adults in his
life.
• This book deals with some big issues, including: ADD, deadbeat dads, divorce, alcholism and disability.
• There are four Joey Pigza books in all. This is the second, and is a sequel to the first, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
• This book makes a wonderful book club selection for parent/child book clubs.
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Book Summary:
Joey Pigza Loses Control is an account of Joey's six weeks spent over summer vacation with his usually absent dad. Joey has ADD and has finally found a good dose of medicine, in the form of a patch on his arm. The new meds help Joey "settle down and think. And not just think about all the bad things that had already happened. I started thinking about the good things I wanted to happen." Meds have helped Joey start anew.
But upon arriving at his dad's, Joey realizes his Dad is just like a grown up version of himself, but withOUT the medicine. Carter Pigza is excited to get have this chance to bond with his son, and wants to make his son a winner. And winner's don't need medicine. So the first order of business is to flush all of Joey's medicine down the toilet and get Joey's world-class pitching arm on his baseball team. Both of which he does.
The rest of the story is about Joey slowing losing what little control he had over his behavior without the patch. Things go south quickly, and Dad is of no help to Joey. Joeys burning desire to please his dad is the chief conflict here, because even Joey can sense his dad is making dangerous decisions. The real strength in this novel is the honest and heartbreaking voice of Joey and the voice, in turn, it gives ADD. This is a wonderfully written novel that will make your reader think, and give him a birds eye, empathic view of children without stable family units and children struggling with ADD.
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Author:
Jack Gantos
Illustrator:
N/A
Published:
2000, 196 pages
Themes:
Feelings, Character/Values, Good Book Club Selection, Life-Challenges, Books for Boys
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, Jack Gantos
, Jack Gantos
, Jack Gantos
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