Realistic Fiction- Joey Pigza Loses Control By: Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Loses Control By: Jack Gantos
Realistic Fiction


           Joey Pigza Loses Control is an account of Joey's  summer vacation with his dead beat father. Joey has ADD and uses a patch on his arm to control it. The new medication is helping Joey settle down and think. Meds have helped Joey start anew.but upon arriving at his dad's, Joey realizes his Dad is just like a grown up version of himself, but without the medicine. Carter Pigza is excited to get have this chance to bond with his son, and wants to make his son a winner. he believes that winners don't need medicine. So the first order of business is to flush all of Joey's medicine down the toilet and get Joey's world-class pitching arm on his baseball team. Both of which he does. The rest of the story is about Joey slowing losing what little control he had over his behavior without the patch. Things go south quickly, and Dad is of no help to Joey. Joeys burning desire to please his dad is the chief conflict here, because even Joey can sense his dad is making dangerous decisions.  This is a wonderfully written novel that will make your reader think, and give him a birds eye, empathic view of children without stable family units and children struggling with ADD.

       This is a book that I would read at the begging of the year when we are all getting to know each other. All of my students will be different, and all of them will come in with learning differences. I want my students to respect each other, and I feel as if hearing Joey's story will allow them to see what it is like to be different. This book will hopefully encourage my more advanced students to be more patient with those who struggle and encourage all of my students to be respectful of each other. While reading this book, we would have group discussions on how to treat others with respect, especially those with learning disabilities.