Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key

by Jack Gantos

Other authorsDavid Tazzyman (Illustrator)

Paperback, 2000

Status

Missing

Call number

813.54

Publication

Corgi Childrens (2000), 192 pages

Description

To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

User reviews

LibraryThing member bplma

Gantos speaks in the voice of Joey himself; so well written and so believable that I wondered if Gantos himself had adhd--Joey has some knowledge of what he is doing but he is compelled and cannot stop himself. His feet move, he can feel his meds wearing off, he does not want to get in trouble but

his brain, his ability to think logically and make good decisions, is different than ours and he makes some spectacularly bad decisions, occasionally hurting himself and other people. Joey is getting worse; he has trouble every day at school; the other kids think he is weird, are afraid of him, bully him, etc. Both Joey and his mother resist his placement in the "special school" downtown, but his options are running out, and everything is NOT okay. His family life is far from perfect; family members have the same disorder, plus alcoholism, abandonment, poverty, neglect, abuse-- but the characters are so complex and nuanced... just as in real life, they are not black and white, but imperfect. And...most amazing of all, the book is funny! We genuinely like Joey and his family and are sympathetic. I loved this book but i wonder if a 4th or 5th grader will get the sublety , especially without adult guidance. I would put it at 5th grade at least. Powerful and funny and moving. and real. i will always pause before i get mad at another kid who is "just not listening."

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24 more

LibraryThing member avcr

Shades of my childhood, Joey is emotionally abused by his Grandmother, and appears to have what is now labeled as ADD. He himself is an emotional prisoner and the reader is dragged kicking and screaming through this mess of his life. As I have learned with my Mother, his meds are not helpful, they

merely mute the chaos. The patch seems to work for him, and one exhales a long sigh of relief when he recognizes that he is not a bad kid after all.
If You Liked This, Try: Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos, What Would Joey Do? By Jack Gantos, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.
Awards: California Young Reader Medal

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LibraryThing member debnance

Everything is wrong in Joey Pigza’s life and it seems like there is nothing Joey can do to fix things. His grandmother, left to raise him after his parents disappeared, treats him cruelly. Joey can’t seem to sit still or stop getting in trouble. Then Joey’s mom returns and he desperately

wants to get his life in control. But, still, Joey continues to sharpen his own finger and to swallow his house key and to cause problems on the class field trip. It is only after Joey goofs up worst of all, only after Joey cuts off his classmate’s nose and is sent to a special school, that Joey meets a teacher who shows Joey how to get the help he needs. This book takes a reader right inside the mind of a child with ADD. It’s a painful book to read at times, but it feels very authentic.

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LibraryThing member jlhorn

I'm not sure why people tagged this as humor--my reactions ranged from cringing to crying. Joey is a great character, and the author does an amazing job of describing, in Joey's words, what is going on in his brain. You can also imagine, through the adults' words and actions, what they're really

thinking about him. What really impressed me, and the 5th grade students I recently read the book with, was his perseverance, his willingness to keep on trying after so many disappointments. Everyone who works with children should read this book.

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LibraryThing member marciaskidslit

This book teaches children that having an illness such as ADHD does not make them bad; they are good kids with good hearts. These children need help from adults, parents and teachers, and through regulated medications, these children can lead a normal functioning life, at home and at school. The

book also teaches non-ADHD children what the illness is about and why some children are “wired” and can’t behave in school or at home. This is an excellent example of a children’s realistic fiction book that deals with a real problem—ADHD. There are many children with developmental and learning disabilities. The characterization of Joey is well done. He is convincing real and life-like and could easily be a child’s classmate or next door neighbor. The book is a 1999 Notable Book from the ALSC.

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LibraryThing member MaryC22

Gantos does a great job sharing the story of Joey, a young boy with ADD and a big heart. Opens the door to understanding some of the children you may have run into during your life. You will laugh cry and cheer for Joey.

LibraryThing member skeeterbo

It was awesome and hilarious. I loved the part when Joey pooped the key out. There were alot of other funny parts.

LibraryThing member mlsullivan

This was a very easy chapter book to read. It gives an insight to children who have ADHD. It is good for teachers to read so we can understand students who have this problem.

LibraryThing member travenwill

Awesome book. Let's students realize that not everyone can control how they are.

LibraryThing member coriblake

What a wonderful story! I laughed and I cried! Joey Pigza is a nine year old boy who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyper-Active Disorder. Joey gets into a lot of trouble at school. Sometimes he can't help doing the things he likes to do like swallow a key! The story tells about Joey's

daily interactions with his mom, his classmates and teachers who all love Joey and try to help him get better. Does Joey learn to control himself? Read Joey Pigza Swalloed a Key and find out.

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LibraryThing member judychadwick

Joey Pigza is a good hearted boy who is wired. He tries to be a good boy while dealing with a lot of personal problems. He has ADHD, his mother comes back into life, his grandmother is crazy and abusive, his father is out of the picture and he has trouble in school.

LibraryThing member Alina100

Joey Pigza is young boy who always gets into trouble because he has ADD. He puts a key on a piece of string and swallows it, and then pulls the string and retrieves the key. Except for the time when the key is not on its string, but he forgets and swallows it anyway. He also puts his finger in a

pencil sharpener, runs with scissors and cuts the tip of a girl’s nose off. His behavior gets him suspended from school and ends up in a special education center where he gets help. Nobody knows what really makes him behave like that. I think an important part of his behavior is his family. This book can help kids accept and understand why others get into trouble and that there is help out there for everybody.

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LibraryThing member smohri

I don't know if I would have categorized this as humor, but I found it on a list in the Nilsen text for books that will make readers smile. I did smile and laugh, but somewhat guiltily.

I thought Jack Gantos did a great job of describing the "wired" feeling that ADHD children probably feel and how

an innocent act of curiosity can appear to be destructive. When Joey sticks all the band aids on his body, you as the reader laugh and find it harmless, but at the same time when his mother and doctor see it you understand their frustration and misunderstanding. I liked that there wasn't really a villain in this story. You know that Joey has been bullied, but the people close to him really do have his best interests in mind. I think the strongest part of this book was that Gantos got you to look at one situation from several perspectives and realize that no one was really in the wrong.

This was a fun and easy read. I think it is great for anyone who is curious about what it might be like to have ADHD or for anyone who just likes to read about good kids who get into trouble.

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LibraryThing member eroberts.teach

I wanted to cry at times while reading this book. A kids view and a teachers view while reading will be different. Kids might see a little of themselves in Joey or see classmates who act like Joey and understand how hard it can be to go to school for kids with ADHD.

LibraryThing member volleyballa13

In Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Joey isn't the best in school. He thinks he's cool because he can swallow his house key. What he doesn't know is that when he goes to the nurse, he has to take medicne to make him "go". Read it to see what happens!

LibraryThing member pgreenley

I loved this look into the mind of a kid with ADHD. It was heartbreaking and fascinating and also heartening. I think this book has a lot of value for teachers in helping them understand difficult students as well as being extremely helpful for kids with ADHD, letting them know they are not alone

in the world.

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LibraryThing member SarahWilmot

This is an excellent example of REALISTIC FICTION because it is convincingly true and prompts readers to empathize with other people and see the complexity of human interaction. Gantos does a good job of not only addressing the struggles of ADHD, but also the struggles of a dysfunctional home life

and that influence on a child's life.

Point of View: This book is a good example of first person because you read the story from the perspective of a child struggling with ADHD and in doing so you develop an understanding of what these children go through and how hard it is for them to sit still; by reading this story in first person you develop empathy and understanding for those with ADHD and dysfunctional families.

Age Appropriateness: Intermediate to Middle School
Media: no pictures (novel)

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LibraryThing member esterlin

4starP
Ages 8 to 11
Radical Change

Joey tries to be good, but he just can't sit still. His adventures and misadventures include trying to sharpen his nail to a point, causing mischief at an Amish farm on a field trip, and swallowing his key. But when he accidentally rams into another girl while

holding a pair of sharp scissors, he has to go to a Special Ed. school and figure out his medication and his behavior.

"No, I'm not like Kerwin. I can have good days. Entire days when I wake up and I'm calm inside like water when it's not boiling, and I just plan my feet the floor like every other kid in American and do a sleepy walk down to the bathroom and take a nice hot shower and wash my hair and dry off and get dressed and eat breakfast and all the while thinking about what I'd like to do with my day. And then the most amazing thing to me is after I think about what I want to do, like read, or see a friend, or say something nice to Mrs. Howard, or write a poem, I actually do all that stuff. That is amazing to me. I think it, then I do it. This may be how everyone else operates, but this is not how I usually operate. Usually I wake up with springs popping inside my head, like I'm in the middle of a pinball game where I'm the ball and I shoot out of bed and directly to the kitchen where I ricochet around after food until by chance I snatch some toast off the counter, then go slamming off the padded stool tops like they were lighted bumpers and zing up the hall and into the bathroom where I try to brush my teeth, but I brush mostly my lips and chin and then I explode back out the door and across the living room and carom off the furniture until Mom gets a grip on me and wipes the toothpaste off my face and works a pill down my throat."

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LibraryThing member jkh322

5starP
8-10

Radical Change

Joey's struggle with ADHD is one that is familar to many of today's children. Moving through life like a Tazmanian Devil, Joey's life is improved with is diagnosis. This is a good way of introducing the disease to students.

LibraryThing member bcpederson

4P; RC: Changing perspectives and changing boundaries.

LibraryThing member mkschoen

I wanted to like the book, but exhausting. Although - I d=felt for him. If I was this exhausted reading his thoughts, how hard was it to have the thoughts? What age to use with - marketed for 10 + but probably better middle grades? Hard to say

LibraryThing member dominirose

Wish I had read this last year when Joey Pigza was a student of mine. Thank you fiction.

LibraryThing member pumabeth

Joey Pigza cannot sit still; his world is in constant motion, and he runs and bounces from one misadventure to the next. The first person narration is dizzying. Joey’s repeated response: “I”ll have to get back to you” reveals the zipping pace of his concentration. By the time someone asks

for his attention, he has moved onto a new set of actions. The story remains consistent in its first person telling of Joey’s world. We can feel his quickening pulse, sense his confusion over school rules, and feel the upheaval of his home life.

The story also does a good job of showing the possible genetic factors contributing to his attention deficit as well as the inability of family members to help him. His father abandoned him when he was young. His grandmother’s care of him was erratic and cruel, and his mother, who re-enters his life, copes by downing an amaretto when Joey takes his medications. We root for Joey as help comes his way, but some of the changes happen a little too quickly to be fully believable.

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LibraryThing member flickins

Chapter book, Discusses a young boy with ADHD. National Book Award Finalist

LibraryThing member RoseMarion

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos is the first book in a series of four books about delightfully hyper Joey Pigza.

Joey's parents are divorced, and when he was quite young his mother left him with his ornery grandmother to look for Joey's alcoholic father, Carter Pigza. Thus, for a few

years of his life, Joey is raised by his grandma (his father's mother). Joey's grandma is mean and grouchy and is unable to help Joey with his own problematic behavior which is a result of his ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

As a result, when Joey's mom returns one day, Joey is kind of a mess. He is on "dud meds" and has caused many problems at school. Poor Joey means well, but he gets so curious and energized that he often makes poor decisions. Eventually, there is an accident at school, and Joey is sent to a special education center.

While at the center, Joey is given thorough attention and learns some positive tools to use in order to be successful in life. Most importantly, with the help of new medication, Joey learns he isn't "bad" or "crazy." He's just a bit different.

The story is interesting and well told. It is a great book to read for all those curious about what it is like to have ADHD. Also, the audio version which is read by Jack Gantos is extremely entertaining. Mr. Gantos really knows Joey and brings the story to complete life. I love this series and would highly recommend it to anyone!

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