JOEY PIGZA LOSES
CONTROL
By Jack Gantos
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Gantos, Jack. (2000). JOEY PIGZA LOSES CONTROL. New York:
HarperCollins Publishers.
ISBN 0-06-441022-6.
ISBN 0-06-441022-6.
PLOT SUMMARY:
Joey Pigza is reluctantly sent off to stay with his father
for the summer—a father who hasn’t really been around. Joey’s mother works and
after a little incident involving a dart and a Chihuahua named Pablo, she finds
it necessary to have Joey looked after while she is gone. The problem is, Joey’s
father is as “wired” as Joey used to be before medication, and he
self-medicates with alcohol. Joey has to deal with the separation of his
parents, his feelings of being two different Joeys—one for his mother and one
for his father, a chronically ill grandmother, his father’s alcoholism, and his
own issues with ADHD. Joey’s father wants him to tackle his ADHD “like a man”
and throws away his medication. At this point, Joey’s summer and his life begin
to spin out of control. They do have a connection through baseball and Joey
finds out that he has a talent for pitching—but it’s not enough to heal the gap
between them.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This is a very funny and heartbreaking story of a boy with a
multitude of issues in his life, such as divorced parents, an alcoholic and absent
father, a sick and somewhat verbally abusive grandma, and his ADHD. Children
will be drawn to Joey’s story because of the issues that they may be able to
relate to in their own lives. The humorous situations are plenty in this story.
While Joey is at home alone one day, he spins out of control while playing with
darts and unintentionally pierces his Chihuahua’s ear (and ends up putting an
earring in it!). This leads his mom to send him to stay with his dad for a
while. While driving there, Pablo, the Chihuahua, gets car sick and so Joey
puts him in the glove box and forgets him there. After his father flushes his
medication away, Joey begins to lose focus and control at an important baseball
game and insists that his father go get Pablo or he won’t pitch. Joey finally
keeps pitching with Pablo tucked into his jersey. While wandering through the
city, Joey goes into a department store and becomes fascinated with a mannequin.
He decides to change into some store clothes and join the mannequin and see if
anyone notices him. Again, while out in the city, he is staring at the sky and
talking to himself and finds a woman looking at him strangely. He proudly
announces, “I’m not on drugs anymore!” But along with the humor, there are
truly situations which must seem terrifying to young Joey. He pleads with his
father not to throw his medicine away because he knows how he will get. He
says, “My patch is not a drug. . .It’s medicine” (p. 93). While out exploring
the city, he is enjoying himself but hounded by thoughts that something bad is
going to happen. “The whole day I had been playing a big Pittsburgh board game
called Are You Normal, Joey Pigza, or Are You Wired?” (p. 114). He keeps
repeating to himself, “I’m normal. I’m normal. I’m really normal. Joey Pigza is
normal” (p. 115). I found this scenario to be heartbreaking, for a child to
suffer these feelings about himself. Joey’s grandmother recognizes what is
happening to Joey, and after he crashes to the floor with his dinner she says, “You’re
slippin’ back to your old self” (p. 126). That comment bothers him because as
he puts it, “I wanted to be the new me and not the old me” (p. 126). On page
140, we see Joey engage in destructive behavior that he cannot control without
his medication. He has a healing bald spot, but now he is driven to rub and
pick at the spot until it bleeds. He hates himself for doing it but he can’t
control it. “ I knew for certain the other Joey had started to catch up to me.
. .” He is so tormented by not taking his medicine and for not telling his
mother the truth. On page 166 he says, “It was a mistake to think I could work
it all out by myself. I just didn’t want anyone to get upset with me, because
all my life people had been upset with me.” As his condition worsens without
his medication, his thoughts and dialogue become more frantic, incoherent and
rambling. Page 172 is a good example of this. Before the last game, after a
talk with his father, he pulls up his shirt and reveals “tattoos” that he has
drawn on his body. When his father asks what they are, Joey says, “Patches. . .
they’ll keep me calm” (p.181). He is unraveling and is desperate to try to
control it anyway a little kid can. There is tragedy here that children will
relate to, but there is also triumph in how his story ends. It is a testament
to children that there is no shame in having ADHD and there is no shame in
needing medication to help with the situation.
AWARDS:
Newbery Honor Book--2001
An ALA Notable Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book
A School Library Journal Best Book
A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A Horn Book Fanfare Book
An ALA Notable Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Book
A School Library Journal Best Book
A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A Horn Book Fanfare Book
REVIEWS:
Publishers Weekly: “First introduced in Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Gantos's
hyperactive hero Joey Pigza has not lost any of his liveliness, but after
undergoing therapy and a stint in special ed., he now can exercise a reasonable
amount of self-control provided he takes his meds. His mother has reluctantly
agreed to let him spend the summer three hours from home with his father, an
alcoholic who, so he claims, has taken steps to turn his life around. Readers
will sight trouble ahead long before Joey's optimistic perception of his father
grows blurry. Mr. Pigza is at least as "wired" as the old Joey, and
when he resorts to his drinking habits and becomes belligerent, Joey (who still
wants to win his father's favor) feels scared. Then Mr. Pigza, telling Joey his
medicine patches are a "crutch" that Joey doesn't need, summarily
flushes them down the toilet: "You are liberated... You are your own man,
in control of your own life," he announces. Joey is torn between wanting
to call his mom immediately and sticking with his father. "Even though I
knew he was wrong," Joey says, "he was my dad, and I wanted him to be
right." Like its predecessor, this high-voltage, honest novel mixes humor,
pain, fear and courage with deceptive ease. Struggling to please everyone even
as he sees himself hurtling toward disaster, Joey emerges as a sympathetic
hero, and his heart of gold never loses its shine. Ages 10-up.”
School Library Journal ***Starred Review: “Hilarious,
harrowing, and ultimately heartening.”
Booklist ***Starred
Review: “A truly memorable read.”
CONNECTIONS:
Teaching Plan: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/joey-pigza-loses-control-teaching-plan
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