A review by briarrose1021
Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos
4.0
Joey Pigza has ADD, and he has learned that when he's not on his medication, he's an entirely different person - a person that he doesn't necessarily like. For the summer, Joey wants to learn more about his dad, so he's going to Pittsburgh, PA to spend 6 weeks with his dad. Joey's mom tells Joey that his dad can be a lot like Joey and tells him to tell her if his dad starts drinking.
This story, published in 2000 and set during that same time, does a wonderful job of painting a picture of what it's like to be a young boy with ADD. In the beginning, when Joey is on his medication, he's in control of his behavior. That's not to say that he isn't a bit crazy at times. Rather, it's manageable crazy. But, after Joey's dad has the bright idea that Joey doesn't really need his medication and flushes all of Joey's patches, things begin to change. It's slow at first, as the medication that Joey has been on slowly wears off, but cracks begin to show. Joey recognizes this, but he wants to please his dad so he excuses them away.
At the same time, Joey's dad is dealing with his own alcoholism. In his head, he has convinced himself that drinking beer is different from drinking hard liquor, so it's okay for him to drink beer. It's just adult soda, after all! There were several conversations between Joey and his dad that had me cringing. They were realistic, and that's what made them so bad.
Overall, I thought the characters were very well done. While some of them were simplistic, they weren't just stereotypes. In addition, the characters and their interactions, particularly with Joey, were what made this story. This story was also somewhat short, and there was no great mystery to solve. The main problem to be dealt with was made clear pretty early on. What made the story great was in seeing HOW the solution would unfold. While some aspects were resolved, others were not, and I look forward to continuing the series to see how those which weren't resolved will be handled in the future.
For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author. In general, I do not care for author-narrated audiobooks. Yes, authors understand the story better than some random narrator, and that can sometimes lead to added nuance in the audiobook than the listener would have gotten from someone else narrating. However, narrating is a different skill set than writing, and many authors do not make good narrators. This was one of those cases, and it was also the reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Let me be clear: the narration isn't bad. It just isn't as good as it could have been, and for that reason, when I continue this series, I will do so by reading them myself instead of listening to the audiobook if the author continues narrating.
This story, published in 2000 and set during that same time, does a wonderful job of painting a picture of what it's like to be a young boy with ADD. In the beginning, when Joey is on his medication, he's in control of his behavior. That's not to say that he isn't a bit crazy at times. Rather, it's manageable crazy. But, after Joey's dad has the bright idea that Joey doesn't really need his medication and flushes all of Joey's patches, things begin to change. It's slow at first, as the medication that Joey has been on slowly wears off, but cracks begin to show. Joey recognizes this, but he wants to please his dad so he excuses them away.
At the same time, Joey's dad is dealing with his own alcoholism. In his head, he has convinced himself that drinking beer is different from drinking hard liquor, so it's okay for him to drink beer. It's just adult soda, after all! There were several conversations between Joey and his dad that had me cringing. They were realistic, and that's what made them so bad.
Overall, I thought the characters were very well done. While some of them were simplistic, they weren't just stereotypes. In addition, the characters and their interactions, particularly with Joey, were what made this story. This story was also somewhat short, and there was no great mystery to solve. The main problem to be dealt with was made clear pretty early on. What made the story great was in seeing HOW the solution would unfold. While some aspects were resolved, others were not, and I look forward to continuing the series to see how those which weren't resolved will be handled in the future.
For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author. In general, I do not care for author-narrated audiobooks. Yes, authors understand the story better than some random narrator, and that can sometimes lead to added nuance in the audiobook than the listener would have gotten from someone else narrating. However, narrating is a different skill set than writing, and many authors do not make good narrators. This was one of those cases, and it was also the reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 stars. Let me be clear: the narration isn't bad. It just isn't as good as it could have been, and for that reason, when I continue this series, I will do so by reading them myself instead of listening to the audiobook if the author continues narrating.