Joey Pigza Loses Control

Title: Joey Pigza Loses Control
Genre: Newbery
Author: Jack Gantos
Major Awards: Newbery Honor
Age Group: 4th-8th grade

This is the story of middle schooler, Joey. Joey suffers from a very bad case of ADHD, which makes life difficult. He is newly medicated with a patch, which is the only reason he can keep sane most days. His parents are divorced, and he has always lived with his mother. One summer, Joey's mother decides it is time that Joey get to know his father, so she takes him to Pittsburg to spend the summer with his father. What Joey does not know is that his father is exactly like him without medication. His father talks a mile a minute, and is filled with a ton of energy. His father struggles with his own issues: he is an alcoholic, drug addict, and has spent a lot of his life in jail. Despite these challenges, Joey is excited to spend his summer with his father because he so desperately wants to have a relationship with him. His father coaches a baseball team, and one day realizes that Joey has a wonderful pitching arm. His father makes him a starter for the team and beams with pride each time Joey takes the mound. One day, his father tells him that he should remove his medication pouch and just be a normal kid. This does not sit well with Joey because his medication pouch is vital to keeping him sane. He obliges his father, and his father flushes all of Joey's patches down the toilet. Joey is determined to prove that he can, in fact, function like a normal human without his patch. Well, things go awry and Joey is back to his hyperactive, bouncing-off-the-walls self. This sets his father off and makes him impatient and unable to cope with Joey. He starts excessively drinking and cannot handle Joey. On the night of the final baseball game of the season, the pressure is on for Joey to pitch well. Anytime Joey makes a mistake, his father shouts and cusses at him. Finally, Joey has enough of it and runs out of the baseball fields to a nearby mall. Here, he calls his mother and explains everything that has gone down. In the end, his mother races to pick him up, and Joey realizes how his father is not like him at all, but incredibly different. 

This was not my favorite book, so I am not sure I would want it in my classroom. I did not like the fact that there was so much talk about addiction, smoking, and jail. I just do not think that these are appropriate topics for a children's book, and would certainly not want to expose my students to these things at such a young age. It is a bit shocking that this won a Newbery, in my opinion. I also did not like that things were not settled with Joey and his father at the end. I kept expecting there to be interaction with his father after Joey darted from the baseball field, but we never got to see his father's take or remorse on the situation that unfolded. 

I think that this story would be most appropriate for grades four through eight. It is a fairly short novel that is a pretty easy read, so I think that it would be appropriate for students starting in fourth grade. On the other hand, though, I am not sure that this content is appropriate for a fourth grader. Content-wise, I would probably not hand this to a student lower than about eighth or ninth grade just because of the topics being discussed in the book. 

In my classroom, we could talk about the "two Joeys" in the book. The Joey he was with his mother, and the Joey he was when he went with his father. I could have the students write about a time where they felt like they had to be two different versions of themselves around two different people, and talk about the problems they faced. I could also give them a worksheet that has them write out conflicts in the book, and how they were resolved. I would also be sure to discuss the importance of speaking up for themselves when things do not seem right. In the book, Joey knew that by not taking his medicine, he would revert back to his old self, but was too scared to tell his father this. I would have this be a good example of how we can get manipulated and things can take a turn for the worse when we do not stand up for what we know is right.