A review by tessiekat
The Dented Head of Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos

5.0

2018 - Book #53 of 100 : This was a freebie on Audible, and it looked adorable. I have not read any other Joey Pigza books, but this one was heartbreakingly good and left me weirdly emotional. I struggled with my ADHD as a kid and I still struggle with it, in different ways, as an adult. While my experience and symptoms were/are different than Joey's, his descriptions of his symptoms and the ways he tries to cope with them were so familiar. His story of how he tells everything to his dog, and how much the dog helps him emotionally had me nearly crying. It is ridiculous to say, as an adult, that a children's book made me feel not so alone in the struggle. It also gave me hope that one of the kids who read this book will also feel not so alone after reading about Joey.
Also, the situation with his home life made me want to just give him a hug. I wanted slap all the adults around him who do nothing to help this kid who clearly needs it.

PS-The very last chapter was so amazing that I listened to it twice.