A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gantos, J. (2014). Joey Pigza swallowed the key. New-York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
B. PLOT SUMMARY
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is about a young boy named Joey who struggles with behavior issues at school. He is bounced around homes when he is really young, and he eventually stays with his grandmother while his mother is out searching for his dad. Joey's grandmother struggles to control his behavior, and they live in a mostly run-down and dirty home. Eventually, his mom gives up looking for his dad and comes home to take care of Joey again. Initially, Joey is hesitant about his mom, since he didn't even know what she looked like before she showed back up. But he eventually learns to love her, and they move in together.
Joey has struggles paying attention and sitting still at school. He has several incidents during the school year, including swallowing his house key, causing a disruption during a fieldtrip, and slicing the end of a girl's nose off with a pair of scissors. Due to his behavioral issues, Joey is eventually recommended for Special Education, where they feel the teachers will be able to help him get his behavior under control. He starts out in a Special Ed classroom at his same school, but after harming another student, Joey is sent to a different school for six weeks. He is very afraid of his new school, since he sees kids there that will never get better. Joey is afraid that he is broken inside, and if he doesn't get his behavior under control, he may never get back to his old school, and he might be taken away from his mother again.
Eventually, Joey is recommended to a doctor in Pittsburgh, who performs some tests on him in order to find the best medication for him. Joey and his mom begin making some changes at home to help Joey get more structure in his life, and they eventually purchase a dog for him. Joey makes it back to his old school eventually, where he sees some old friends in his Special Ed classroom.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel depicted a child with behavioral issues better than any I had ever read. The stream-of-consciousness writing technique makes Joey feel like he's talking a mile a minute, and his inner dialogue sheds light on how he is feeling. He isn't trying to be malicious or hurt others, but his constant need to move around keeps him in trouble. He is a smart kid who really just needed some positive adults in his life, and I was glad to hear that his medication was working towards the end of the book. Additionally, the way that Joey describes the Special Ed classrooms and the other children on his bus were just as I would expect from a young child. He avoids staring at kids with major needs, since that is how he was raised, but before long, Joey is treating these kids as he would treat someone with no noticeable disabilities. I feel that going to a new school would be scary for any kid, especially one being forced to go somewhere due to misbehavior. Gantos did a good job of showing how patient and professional the teachers at his new school were with the students that they worked with.
I felt that the adults in this book treated Joey with kindness. All of his teachers were as patient as they could be, even Mrs. Maxey, who did her best to work with him while he was in her class. Special Ed and all of the doctor's that Joey encountered throughout the story, in my opinion, treated him fairly and better than I had expected when I read about this book. A lot of stories featuring children with attention and other behavior issues include adults that are mean, impatient, or just rude to children who do not behave. However, a few of the adults in the story seem to place all of the blame for Joey's behavior on his family situation, undermining all of the work that his mom did for him throughout the story. It was wrong of her to leave him in order to search for Joey's father, but she is doing her best to try and make up for the mistakes that she has made. Her alcoholism is definitely a problem, but hopefully as Joey's behavior gets under control, so will her need to drink.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
“In this rollercoaster of a ride, ingenuously and breathlessly narrated by Joey himself, readers are treated to an up-close introduction to life with attention deficit disorder--or being wired, as Joey puts it. . . . Readers of this compelling tragicomedy will know almost from the start that Joey's not just a good kid--he's a great kid.”
--The Horn Book, starred review
In addition to offering an accurate, compassionate and humorous appraisal of Joey's condition, Gantos (the Rotten Ralph series; Desire Lines) humanely examines nature (both Joey's father and grandmother are as ""wired up"" as he) versus nurture (abandonment by Joey's parents, abuse by his grandmother, children's taunts) as factors in Joey's problems. Joey's hard-won triumph will reassure children fighting his same battle and offer insight to their peers. But because the book is so realistic, reading it can be painful and requires patience, just like dealing with a child like Joey.
--Publisher's Weekly
No comments:
Post a Comment