Joey Pigza Loses Control

~~What if.....??

~Can I get back to you on that?

~~What if.....??

 ~Can I get back to you on that?

~~What if.....??

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control. New York: HarperCollins. 2000.

ISBN 0064410226

Jack Gantor

PLOT SUMMARY:

 Joey Pigza, a kind but impulsive boy that is taking medication for his hyperactivity, convinces his reluctant mother to allow him and Pablo, his Chihuahua mix dog, to go spend the summer with his absentee-estranged father. A short time after Joey arrives, Carter Pigza, Joey’s father, decides his son does not need to be on any medication-patches to help control his agitated and frantic behavior. He tells Joey, “I bet if you didn’t wear them you’d never know the difference.” For Joey, this is the beginning of losing control over his recently found and vaguely managed behavior. Joey wants his dad’s acceptance and love so he tries to his best to be a “Real man and tough it out.” Despite doing his best, “taking a deep breath, like Mom told” him and remembering what she said – “if you want to make good choices, think one thought at a time” – Joey was unraveling and about to “go around the bend and off the deep end.” Luckily for Joey he has an innate ability for self preservation and a loving mother to help him return to the new and improved Joey -- the Joey Pigza that Joey wants.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

Jack Gantos has created a wonderful character that most everyone can connect with; Joey Pigza is either themselves or someone they know – Joey Pigza is that kid in every classroom and every home that we all have seen and either ignored or was mean too. As the protagonist, Joey Pigza is the typical only child from divorced parents. Joey is meeting his father, the first time he can remember him and his father tells him “you can call me Carter,” Joey knows “he is never going to call him that” and begins understanding why mom “said he was just like me only bigger.” As the story begins to unfold, Joey along with the reader can see/picture the antagoinist, Carter Pigza, hyper-active characteristics and tendencies. “Carter kept whipping around and finally an uneven sound came out of his mouth like a car engine that wouldn’t start” Carter proclaimed he had “been thinking about what they should do today, and [he] had the perfect idea.” Joey takes Joey to the “Storybook Land Fun Park and proclaims “Joey you have to see this place…it is the place where my whole life turned around.” In front of the Humpty Dumpty wooden display Carter tells Joey that he “woke up here after having too many drinks one night” and “he didn’t want to be a pathetic broken egg with everyone trying and failing to put [him] back together again. Joey is not sure what to make of this revelation but he does see some the “old Joey” in his dad and wants very much for them to connect and have a father and son relationship. Joey is eager to do whatever his dad says, even if he believes it will do him more harm than good. One night Carter Pigza decides that Joey does not need to be on his medication. He tells Joey, “I’ve been thinkin’ about these patches … I bet if you didn’t wear them you’d never know the difference.” Joey tries to explain his “is real medication from a doctor” but Carter is insistent, Joey “doesn’t need them. You’re going to be a winner without them. Real men can tough it out. Be determined…” Carter takes all of the patches and flushes them down the toilet. Losing control will be underway shortly.

Luckily for Joey, he is smart, has a strong sense of self-preservation, and has a mother that truly knows and loves him. As Joey begins losing control he tries his best to think and remember what is mom had told him, she had said “taking a deep breath…and thinking if you want to make good choice, think one thought at a time.” But Joey knows he is “losing it, he will be going around the bend and off the deep end” soon unless he gets his medicine. It is at this point Joey becomes both the protagonist and antagoinist. Joey figures out a way to get his medicine, he shows his dad what he had done, he “pulled up his shirt and showed his dad the tattoos [he] had drawn on his stomach with a pen.” The out-of-touch Dad still did not get it and Joey’s unraveling began to happen at a quicker pace.

Joey knows he has to call his Mom and he tells her he “has not been taking [his] medicine and [he] thought [he] could be normal but [he is] not normal and now [he is] back to [his] old self and [he is] in trouble with Dad and really scared.” These words and feelings are easy for readers to hear and feel – we have all been in situation we thought we could control but could not and knew we had done something to make another person mad. The sad part is this is not the child’s fault, this is the adult’s fault but unfortunately the child is on a better road (literally and figuratively) than the father.

Joey’s mother makes it to the mall – they get Pablo and head home. Joey is still being a typical youth with divorced parents, he states he “wanted it to work out with Dad,” the Mom understands his feelings but quietly says “He blew it again … Looks like it’s just you and me.” On the way home Joey asks a very poignant question, “Do you think [Dad] will ever really turn himself around?” This is the ultimate fork in the road – Joey sees he has a choice regarding his behavior and his future.

REVIEW EXCERPT:

Publisher's Weekly: "Like its predecessor, Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor, pain, frea and courage with deceptive ease."

Amazon.com: "Jack Gantos's second book about Joey Pigza is just as delightful and soulful as his first. Joey's attempts to keep the fragile peace in his life intact are touching, and his intense longing to just be normal will mirror the feelings of most prettens, whether they have ADD or not. Joey Pigze may sometimes lose control, but he never loses his heart. This is an exceptional sequel."

CONNECTIONS:

*Have students create a list of acceptable age-appropriate behaviors
*Have students create a list of unacceptable age-approproate behaviors
  they have actually seen
*Discuss why some individuals behave differently than others
*Discuss appropriate ways studnets should handle/react to
   unusal and/or different behavior
*Have students read another Jack Gantos - Joey Pigza book