 |  |
|
Hole in My Life |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
 Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0374430896 |
|
| Availability: |
|
Book Review
"I find myself moving like a knife, carving my way around people, cutting myself out of their picture and leaving nothing of myself behind but a hole." A gaping hole of misery is what popular young adult author Jack Gantos remembers when he thinks back to 1972, "the bleakest year of my life." Just 20 years old, Gantos was in a medium security prison for his participation in a get-rich-quick drug scam. Scared silly by the violence he saw around him daily, Gantos's only lifeline was a battered copy of The Brothers Karamazov, which he painstakingly turned into an impromptu journal by scratching his own thoughts into the tiny spaces between the lines. There, he recorded both his fears and his dream of someday writing a book of his own. Before prison, Gantos had penned a scattered myriad of journals, but had never been... |
| |
| |
|
Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0064408337 |
|
| Availability: |
|
Book Review
Joey Pigza has problems. Big problems. He was emotionally abused by his grandmother. He has never met his dad. He can't get along in his elementary school classroom because of his mood swings and his "dud meds." We gradually see that Joey must have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which is not being effectively controlled with his current medication. Joey's life is a terrifying roller-coaster ride, and Jack Gantos, author of the Rotten Ralph books, drags the reader along to see what life is like with ADD. The story is written from the boy's point of view in a sharp, worried style that veers out of control when Joey does. Joey's control of his own behavior slips away as we read, horrified to see this boy trying to get a grip on his life and failing. He disrupts the class field trip; he puts his finger in a pencil sharpener... |
| |
| |
|
Joey Pigza Loses Control |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0064410226 |
|
| Availability: |
|
Book Review
The loveable, disaster-prone hero of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is back, this time in charge of his attention deficit disorder and ready to greet the world as a normal kid--with the help of his new and improved meds, of course. Now that Joey has a handle on his actions, he feels prepared to face the most mysterious member of his family--his estranged father, Carter Pigza. He convinces his skeptical mom to let him spend part of his summer vacation getting to know his dad again. The only problem is that Joey's dad is just as wired as Joey used to be: "I looked over at his mouth, which never seemed to close--not even the lips touched together--and it made me dizzy to listen to him." Carter believes that Joey can kick his ADD the way he himself kicked alcoholism--cold turkey. But when Carter flushes his meds, Joey... |
| |
| |
|
What Would Joey Do |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0060544031 |
|
| Availability: |
|
Book Review
Modern literature's unlikely hero Joey Pigza is back in Jack Gantos's grand finale to the award-winning trilogy that began with Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and the Newbery Honor book Joey Pigza Loses Control. Joey, the sweetest, funniest kid on meds you'll ever meet, has enough trouble trying to keep his "active" self together. How can he win in his new, self-assumed role as "Mr. Helpful" when his divorced parents are out of control, his Grandma is surly and morbid, and Olivia, the mean blind girl he's forced to homeschool with, calls him a "hyper retard"? Even Olivia's religious mother can't save him with her "What would Jesus do?" refrain. As his world of flawed adults spins around him in carnivalesque chaos, Joey has to decide on a daily basis what he, Joey, should do. At least he has Pablo, his loyal... |
| |
| |
|
Best in Show for Rotten Ralph |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0374363587 |
|
| Availability: |
Usually ships within 24 hours. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3–Rotten Ralph has his eye on the prize: the coveted Best in Show cup at the cat show, but his cousin has entered the competition, too. Ralph knows his chances are next to nil against Perfect Percy, the overachieving orange tabby who even has his own cheering squad. When Sarah tries to whip the rascally red feline into shape, it's a little bit Rocky, a little bit My Fair Lady, and none of it really seems to do Ralph a bit of good. He comes to realize that he can never become the sort of cat who recites A Tale of Two Kitties by rote: One was the best of kitties./The other was the worst of kitties…. What Ralph does best is to be his own rotten self. This fourth Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader is every bit as lively and entertaining as the previous books. Rubel's wonderfully wonky and bright... |
| |
| |
|
Back to School for Rotten Ralph |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0064437051 |
|
| Availability: |
|
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-In their latest adventure, Sarah is heading off to school and that rotten rascal Ralph does not want to be left behind. With the mannerisms of a younger sibling, the cat jealously contrives to keep the girl at home with childish pranks and ploys. When Sarah, who has an adultlike ability to see through his antics, continues on to school determined to make new friends, that devilish red feline disguises himself and follows her. He thwarts her every effort to make friends until his pranks backfire. From start to finish, Ralph's dual personality is evident as he alternates between being a loving, helpful pet and a gleefully mischievous cat. As in previous titles about this pair, Sarah continues to love Ralph despite his bad behavior. "I made a lot of new friends today. But you'll always be at the top... |
| |
| |
|
Rotten Ralph Feels Rotten |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0374363579 |
|
| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3–In this beginning reader, Ralph and Sarah are still going strong after almost 30 years together. True to character, the rotten cat doesn't like the healthy food that Sarah feeds him, so he raids the garbage cans in the alley. Of course, he becomes ill from his foraging and must be taken to the vet, where he is kept for observation. Lonesome for Sarah, he makes his way home, where he fixes himself some snacks. Ralph's suffering and Sarah's concern are palpable in a series of vivid illustrations that depict his worsening condition, as is their pleasure in being reunited. A great addition to the series.–Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
... |
| |
| |
|
Wedding Bells for Rotten Ralph |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0060275332 |
|
| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3Ralph has long been a source of irritation for long-suffering Sarah, who loves him despite his past wrongs. This latest entry to the popular series is no exception. Sarah is looking forward to being a flower girl in Aunt Marthas wedding, and the ever-rascally Ralph tries to foil her at every turn. Instead of fresh rose petals, he puts slugs and toads into Sarahs basket. He destroys her gift to the bride, causes chaos in the church, and wreaks havoc at the reception. Well, you get the idea. In the end, of course, Sarah loves him after all. Rubels vivid illustrations give the feline his usual sly, slit-eyed, winking wickedness while portraying the wedding with loads of energy and motion. As similar as it is to many of the other entries, this latest title is sure to be a hit with fans of the... |
| |
| |
|
Hole in My Life |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0374399883 |
|
| Availability: |
|
Book Review
"I find myself moving like a knife, carving my way around people, cutting myself out of their picture and leaving nothing of myself behind but a hole." A gaping hole of misery is what popular young adult author Jack Gantos remembers when he thinks back to 1972, "the bleakest year of my life." Just 20 years old, Gantos was in a medium security prison for his participation in a get-rich-quick drug scam. Scared silly by the violence he saw around him daily, Gantos's only lifeline was a battered copy of The Brothers Karamazov, which he painstakingly turned into an impromptu journal by scratching his own thoughts into the tiny spaces between the lines. There, he recorded both his fears and his dream of someday writing a book of his own. Before prison, Gantos had penned a scattered myriad of journals, but had never been... |
| |
| |
|
Jack's New Power: Stories from a Caribbean Year |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0374437157 |
|
| Availability: |
|
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8?Jack, 13, keeps a diary of his family's year in Barbados, the next stop after Florida?chronicled in Heads or Tails (Farrar, 1994). These entries are his adventures, observations, sketches, and perceptions of this mid-1960s Caribbean environment where pubescence, family disputes, and a fire all combine for a compelling read. Each episode stands on its own, but taken together they create a tropical world that is at once different and universal. Gantos covers pretty much all the bases: death, love, disease, and cock-fighting. Readers may not always like his quasi-autobiographical characters, but they're not likely to forget them anytime soon. In particular, Jack's dad can be a hero when he saves a drowning couple, but more often he's a mean-spirited bully who won't tolerate failure in his son. There's... |
| |
| |
|
Rotten Ralph Helps out: A Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0374463557 |
|
| Availability: |
|
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Gantos's irrepressible Ralph who are ready to graduate from picture books will eagerly leap into this early chapter book, the first installment of the Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader series. Not surprisingly, the disaster-prone feline initially does not help out at all, but rather comically wreaks havoc as he accompanies Sarah to the library. While she researches a school project on the Egyptians, Ralph constructs a pyramid out of books and practices writing hieroglyphics on the walls. Back home, the rambunctious cat, more determined than ever to offer assistance, proceeds to flood the bathroom when Sarah suggests they build a model of an Egyptian boat; he also fills the living room with sand and palm trees when she considers building a desert oasis. In a pleasing if predictable turnabout, Ralph comes to... |
| |
| |
|
Half Magic |
|
| Author: |
Edward Eager |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
(Hardcover) - Anniv. Ed. |
| ISBN: |
0152053026 |
|
| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
Book Description
Edward Eager's hilarious and heartwarming Half Magic has been working wizardry on young readers for fifty years. To celebrate the golden anniversary of this enduringly popular story, a deluxe edition of the book has been created. It features the original jacket, a ribbon marker, two-color printing, and a new introduction by Jack Gantos, the award-winning author of Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
|
| |
| |
|
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Audio Compact Disc - Unabridged |
| ISBN: |
0307286126 |
|
| Availability: |
Your order will ship upon release. |
From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up In this bizarre tale entrenched in genetics and human history, familial love is unabashedly and horrifically skewed, twisted, and swathed, reminiscent of the works of Poe, Shelley, and Hawthorne. Readers are introduced to the young woman narrator when she is seven, trapped in a small town and a victim of a family's dark legacy: a maternal obsession so extreme that it preys upon the minds of its maligned descendants, forcing them to pursue any means necessary to keep their mothers with them always. Ivy and her devout mother live across the street from a pair of reclusive, elderly twin brothers who run the pharmacy. Her mother used to work for the Rumbaughs, and, over the years, Ivy comes to understand her connection to the eccentric men, their deep bond with their now-deceased mother, and their... |
| |
| |
|
Jack Adrift: Fouth Grade Without a Clue: A Jack Henry Adventure |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Paperback |
| ISBN: |
0374437181 |
|
| Availability: |
|
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Readers of the "Jack Henry" series have followed Jack's adventures from fifth to eighth grade as his nomadic family moved from place to place. Now, in a prequel about his fourth-grade year, Gantos's alter ego arrives on a naval base in Cape Hatteras, NC. Jack is quick to acclimate to their new home, a camouflage-painted trailer in the middle of a swamp, and his optimism is rewarded when school starts and he finds himself head over heels in love with his new teacher, Miss Noelle. His unabashed adoration and efforts to please her are poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. The school principal assigns Jack the unwanted job of "Respect Detective," which turns out to be another name for a snitch. The local veterinarian operates on a backward-footed duck and persuades Jack to rehabilitate it in time for the... |
| |
| |
|
Heads or Tails |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0374329095 |
|
| Availability: |
Ships within 2-3 days. |
From Publishers Weekly
The author of the offbeat Rotten Ralph picture books makes an auspicious foray into new ground with this semi-autobiographical, wholly engaging novel. His narrator, Jack, travels through the often poignant moments that highlight his sixth grade year, at the same time describing his unpredictable family life: "Since I was born, we had already lived in nine different houses. I hated that word 'renter.' It made me feel that I didn't really belong anywhere, like we had to pay people to put up with us," he says. Stuck between an older sister he emulates and a pesky if appealing younger brother, Jack always strives to do the right thing--often to land in trouble. His perspective is quirky but reliable, and often surprising. The first chapter, for example, describes Jack's three-year battle to fill his diary; when he... |
| |
| |
|
Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue |
|
| Author: |
Jack Gantos |
Book Review
|
| Format: |
Hardcover |
| ISBN: |
0374399875 |
|
| Availability: |
|
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Readers of the "Jack Henry" series have followed Jack's adventures from fifth to eighth grade as his nomadic family moved from place to place. Now, in a prequel about his fourth-grade year, Gantos's alter ego arrives on a naval base in Cape Hatteras, NC. Jack is quick to acclimate to their new home, a camouflage-painted trailer in the middle of a swamp, and his optimism is rewarded when school starts and he finds himself head over heels in love with his new teacher, Miss Noelle. His unabashed adoration and efforts to please her are poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. The school principal assigns Jack the unwanted job of "Respect Detective," which turns out to be another name for a snitch. The local veterinarian operates on a backward-footed duck and persuades Jack to rehabilitate it in time for the... |
| |
|
