Review 1The first two chapters are good because it explains a little bit about the characters. First, the main character is Joey and his parents are divorced. Joey has his partner of life called Pablo. For example, whenever Joey does something bad, Pablo follows him and does it. They were all in their way to go to Joey's father and Joey is a crazy boy and he annoys his mom and makes her mad a lot. For all of these bad things his doctor gave him medications to calm him down because before the medication it is impossible to sit still for more than 5 seconds. He would scream and do all sorts of crazy stuff. Sometimes he would even break stuff. " Before I had gone to special ed and got my new meds it would have been impossible for me to sit still and make a list of good and bad things."(Gantos 9) His father got divorced with his mom because the father started to drink a lot and he lost his job, so it was normal to divorce. Even though his mom still has feelings for him. As the usual Joey annoys her and in the road to his father, he starts to tell her that she brought him him to his father because she wanted to see him. Then problems start to happen in the road. These are the reasons why the book is good and also funny.It was a very crazy and dangerous road for Joey's family for several reasons. First, it gets very crazy with Joey and his mom. He creates a song which annoys his mom so much that she cant even drive. " Mom and Dad, sitting in a tree, K-i-s-s-i-n-g!!" (Gantos 8) She got mad, but then she admitted that she has feelings and she is thinking about him a lot. After that she does not talk to Joey for a while during the road. Then she went fast so she could get there quick, but Joey started screaming because he was scared if something happens to his dog, Pablo. Pablo get car sick very fast and he can do all of gross stuff such as pee, poop, vomit and more. So, there were lots of holes in the road they were going on and Pablo's tummy was about to turn upside down. Then his mom did not want to turn around the holes and she continued without listening. Second, something that was expected to happen, happened. He obviously did his business which his mom hates. She started screaming and almost crash to somewhere. Then she stopped and put him in the glove box where there was napkins. Thats why it was a tuff road to Joey's father.This book will interest friends for several reasons. First, they will like all the humor and funny parts. For example, when Joey annoys his mom and the conflicts between them. Second, they will also llike the calm and lovely part of the book. When his father and mother miss each other and when Joey want to know all about his dad. If he loves him or not, and if he is nice or if he is mean. If he is crazy and more of questions. "What if he's not nice? What if he's crazy as nasty? What if he hates me? What if he drinks and gets nasty? What if they make Pablo sleep outside?" (Gantos 1). These were the questions Joey asked before they even ride in the car. These are the reasons why friends will be interested in this book.Review 2In continuation of the other chapters Joey does some huge trouble. First, he was left home alone because his mom was working in the salon. So, she left Joey and Pablo alone in the house but she still was not sure if everything was going to be all right or not. While she was working in the salon, Joey had nothing to do so he went outside and started aiming rocks on targets he wanted. Then, he heard something break so he ran inside with Pablo and hid behind the couch. A man knocked on the door, but Joey was too afraid to open the door so he stayed quiet. After 2 minutes the man started saying bad words and then he left. So Joey decided not to go outside anymore. After staying inside for 5 minutes, he started looking for something to do. Then he went to the attic and found some games. He took darts and started playing. “That’s when I searched the house for new things to do and found the dart set in the attic.” (Gantos 11) This was all what happened before Joey gets into the dart game.After Joey found the dart set, he started playing and then got tired. So when it got boring, he tried to make it much more fun. In Joey’s logic more fun is to make something more dangerous or make it hard that a bad thing can happen. So he changed the rules of the game, instead of just taking a dart, aiming and throwing. He made a rule that he has to turn around in his place until he is dizzy and throws it in the dart table, which can cause huge trouble. So, he stayed playing that game because he loved it. After playing a lot he made a throw and heard a cry, which was Pablo’s. Joey threw a dart and it went right into Pablo’s ear and made a whole in his ear. Joey could not do anything for 5 minutes because he was so dizzy and his eyes could not focus. When he was focused he stressed and ran to his mom with Pablo in a towel. When he came to the salon his mom had a lot of work, but she got so mad at him because he could not let her work without getting worried about them in the house alone. She left the client and asked her to patient for 5 minutes. Joey’s mom ran to a room in the salon and gave the treatments for Pablo, which he needed to not bleed a lot. “She opened a first-aid kit and put iodine on Pablo’s ear, and then a Band-Aid on either side of the hole.” (Gantos 14)The rating of this book will go up until 5 for several reasons. First, a lot of more fun and interesting parts occur in the book. For example at the end of the chapter they arrive at Joey’s father’s house and then it gets so weird between Joey’s mother and his father. Something very bad happens in front of Joey’s eyes, which was when they get out of the car to go to the house they see Joey’s grandma sitting and then Joey’s mother goes and says hi. When she says hi, Joey’s father tries to kiss her in the lips, but she did not want so she leaned backwards in front of Joey. Joey was very shocked so he went back to the car and he had an idea in his head that he really wanted to, which was to jump in the trunk and stay there so that his parents come looking for him and they wont be weird between them. “Before he said anything to me he tried to kiss mom but she yanked her head back as if dad’s lips were electrified.” (Gantos 17) These are all the reasons why this book should be rated up to a 5 star.Review 3As the book continues Joey’s father is a very nice guy. He introduced himself and told Joey to call him Carter but Joey did not he was waiting a long time to use that important word, dad, but Joey did not know when to use it. As his mom went, he took Joey to the Storybook land where they had lots of fun. They went to every character and started to relate it to them and their experiences. Then during that time grandma stated to be a bit annoying to Joey because she was trying to teach him manners. So, Joey and his father went and put her in the miniature golf club, where she sits down and plays golf for hours. First Joey and his father went to The Wizard of Oz. In their path lots of teens dressed into storybook characters passed by. Then they passed to the most important character because it is there where all Carter’s life changed. His life changed because one night he went there after drinking and then he slept there because he was drunk. Then the morning he was in a hangover, so a teen girl dressed in a storybook character woke him up and told him to leave or else she will call the police. Then he looked around him and then saw that Humpty-Dumpty in the wall. So after he started thinking am I as dumb and bad as he is. Every time he goes there, the more he stares at him, the less he likes himself. It is from there that he stopped drinking. “ I stood up and stared at over at old Humpty-Dumpty and I thought, I’m as bad as he is. I thought, Man, I can learn a lesson from that Humpty-Dumpty dude.” (Gantos 26) After this story told by Carter to Joey, they both continue their way through other characters and places. These are the reasons why Joey’s father is a nice guy.After almost finishing the Storybook land park they pass to the Crooked House and then they had fun playing that they are crooked. Then his father started to act like a narrator. “There once was a crooked man, who lived in a crooked house. He had a crooked dog—“ (Gantos 30) After this sentence everything changes and a huge problem starts. When Joey hears dog, he then shouted so loudly everyone could hear him. He recognized that when they were in the road, his dog Pablo was car sick, so they put him in the glove box and he realized he forgot him. So he ran everywhere looking for a phone to call his mom so she can come back to the house. His father was puzzled and did not know what to do. When Joey told him that he had a dog and he left him in the glove box. His father calmed him down and did not let him call. He did what he had to do as a father, but Joey ran to the car waiting for his father and his father ran and got his grandma in the golf club. While Joey was waiting for them to arrive to the car, he got all these bad thought like, Pablo is going to die and all different thing in his mind. Then his grandma stated screaming and insulting his Chihuahua. Before she even got see him she started to give him bad names because she did not get what she wanted, which was to finish her golf course. So Joey and his grandma got in a fight. As Carter was trying to solve the problem, he calmed down Joey’s grandma and calmed down Joey. He told him good thing and he said that his mom already brought him and I think he is in the front porch. Carter was doing his best to change Joey’s mind positive.When they arrived at their house, they finally found Pablo in the front porch as his dad told him to keep his mind positive. Joey was so happy he stated kissing him and hugging Pablo like if never saw him before because Joey was very scared he would die. When Joey puts the dog down eh looks around and finds “Miss you already!” in lipstick in a window from his mom. Then he saw that and laughed. After he went and hugged his dad with one of his joyful moments of his life. Then Joey asks his dad, “How did you know he’d be here?” and his dad answered, “Hey, what are dads for?” (Gantos 33) As soon as they finished hugging and finished their joyful moment. Joey and his father started to talk about baseball because Carter was a coach of a baseball team. Before they even had this good experience to know each other, Joey’s father asked Joey if he wanted to join his team, but Joey rejected because he still did not know him a lot. So now Joey accepted and wanted to join his father’s team. His father asked if he was good at throwing the baseball or he needs practice. After thinking for a little bit, Joey said he was fine and he did not need practice because he though if he was good at throwing rocks in a specific target then he can throw a baseball in a target. The next morning, his father came to his room and put a paper on the ground so he could measure his feet to get a pair of baseball cleats and a baseball glove.review 4:During the adventure Joey was having with his father, he was having a lot of fun. After learning that he was going to be in his father’s team he was very happy and excited so he went and called his mom to let her know about his days with his father. While he was talking in the phone with his mom, his nosey grandma sneaked to listen what he was going to tell his mom. When she learned that he is having fun, he loves his dad, and that his dad is going to buy him a lot of things. She came up to Joey and told him a lot of bad things about his dad just to make him hate him. “Oh, he’s got a steady job but he still sneak-drinks now and again he’s got himself a girlfriend that hasn’t figured out what a loose screw he is. Just know that he hasn’t turned into the squeaky-clean Boy Scout he says he is, even though he’s a neat freak. (Gantos39) Now it is very hard for Joey because he is very confused, he doesn’t know if he needs to believe that his father is a nice guy or to believe his troublemaker grandma.After Joey’s grandma told him all this bad stuff, he went directly up to his room and stayed there for hours. After that his grandma came up to him and told him that she had plans for the afternoon that fitted both of them, but actually it fitted just her because she was very selfish. Then the plans were to go to golf courses. Joey does not want but he does not know if he is allowed to say no. So he just picks up her golf bag and her oxygen tank he goes to the park with her and Pablo. When they went to the park to play golf, all Joey did was to go far in the field and gather the balls that she swings and bring them back to her. He did not get to swing once. So it was very boring for him. After a while, he became very lucky because his grandma started to bleed next to her mouth and she was feeling sick so they had to go home. When they arrived home his father came in and had two baseball patches so he can play and test Joey. Then they started playing baseball and in the same time talking, but after one throw from Joey his father was shocked. “ You have an arm like a cannon, dude.” (Gantos 50)The rating of this book would be a 5 star for several reasons. First, it is a book that has a lot of fun inside it. For example, when Joey’s grandma falls or cant breath anymore or when him and his dad have fun. Second reason is that the book has a lot of suspense. For example, when Joey’s grandma tells Joey about his dad that he is a jerk. “Oh, he’s got a steady job but he still sneak-drinks now and again he’s got himself a girlfriend that hasn’t figured out what a loose screw he is. Just know that he hasn’t turned into the squeaky-clean Boy Scout he says he is, even though he’s a neat freak. (Gantos39) The suspense is weather Joey will believe her or his father. These are the reasons why the book will be a 5 star.Review 5:During Joey’s time with his father, they get to know each other better. When his father comes home they had their first father-to-son talk together. Then they found out that they had lots in comment between him and Joey because they do the same things and like the same things. Such as: they both like baseball, they both do the peanut attack which is when they put a peanut in their nose and start shooting and many different things. When Joey starts to talk to his dad, he starts feeling that he two Joeys in the same time. He feels like if when he is with his father, he likes bad stuff like a tattoo because he wanted to do one like his father and with his mom he would never dare to say the he likes tattoos or wants one. “ I was thinking that being away from mom made me feel different, like there was one Joey for mom and a different Joey for dad and that I was becoming two Joeys.” (Gantos 52)In continuation Joey loved the talk with his dad about old days, but his father didn’t. He asked him to stop the father-to-son talk because he said that he did not have good memories of the pas and his past was bad and ugly with no good memories. So Joey accepted and stopped. After they stopped his father’s had a game coming up, so his father had to go to the stadium and Joey went with him. Before they went in the stadium, Joey’s father told him not to be sad if he doesn’t play because he has to [play the old ones that are good. He told him to stay ready because if he has a chance to make him play than he will go in. Joeys father went to do some drills for the team before the game starts. “ I don’t think you’ll be playing, but don’t feel bad.” (Gantos 54)As Joey is waiting in the stadium, a woman comes up to him and starts talking to him. She asks him if he was the new player Carter, his father, brought. So Joey said yes, and the woman put her big bag that she brought with her with materials. Joey was very happy that he would have materials. So she started to get them out of the bag. She had a cap; a jersey with J.Pigza printed in the back with the number 17 his lucky number, cleats, and a sweatband. Then she recognized that his father forgot to tell her to bring pants, so she asked Joey what’s his waist size but Joey did not know. So she came and measured it. “Skinny, you need to fatten up a bit. Its just if you play the game, you need a couple extra pounds.” (Gantos 59) So the lady started to talk to Joey and then she knew that Joey was a nice boy. So, she asked him if he liked pizza and he said yes because it is his favorite meal. The she went to her phone and ordered a pizza to the stadium. So that Joey can eat and gain pounds.
Spoiler Alert If you like weird,strange,funny books I think you might like it. The genre of this book is fiction. The main idea of this story is that joey is losing his mind because his parents are getting divorce and his dad won't stop drinking. And now he's trying his best to do whatever it takes for them to be a normal family again. Will he ever find a way. In the book the setting takes place mostly at Joey's house and at the baseball field. The plot of this book is that Joey wanted his dad to stop drinking or Joey's mom will leave. But Joey's dad drinks behind her back. so Joey tells her and then she leaves them alone.Then Joey's mom went to the baseball game and talk to Joey's dad about him drinking. When Joey's dad found out that joey told mom he sreamed at him in front of his peers and he got grounded. And now they are a wonderful family and loving people in their town. I was surprised that joey actually kept so many secrets about his dad like him drinking,and doing other bad stuff in front of Joey and almost everyone.,because i would have blurted it out a long time ago.i was angry about his dad treating joey like a stranger or a bad kid and i know a fact that kids fathers shouldn't do that because that his cruel. Also, his dad did that throughout the story. WOW. I liked the way the author makes Joey seem like a bad kid when he turns his back on his mom. He did that just to not betray his dad. My favorite part was when Joey got kick off the bus because he was fooling around by going back and forth, back and forth. Then the bus driver closed the doors on him and Joey called the police and told them what had happened. But they didn't believe him so he waited for the bus to come back but it didn't for 20 minutes and he thought to himself what is grandma thinking on the bus right now. Then it finally came back and he learned his manners now. In conclusion i would rate this book a 4 because i really like the way the author puts in the book awesome in his series of books. I would recommend this book to my friends because they might like them. If you like weird, strange, and funny books i think you might like it.
What do You think about Joey Pigza Loses Control (2004)?
Joey Pigza Loses Control is about a boy named Joey who goes to live with his father. He refers to himself as being "wired" and finds out that his father is "wired" too. He plays baseball and is a great pitcher, until something goes terribly wrong...Joey Pigza Loses Control is a great chapter book to use with students. It has so many possibilities for classroom activities. Students could pretend they were Joey and write a postcard home, readers theatre, create baseball cards with Joey's statistics, the possibilities are endless...
—Ina Silverness
I thought this was a horrid book and cannot for the life of me figure out how it was even published, let alone be honored by the Newbery committee!It feels like a 200 page ad for ritalin with some other disturbing stuff thrown in.Joey who is on some "good meds" patch goes to stay with his alcoholic father and dying of cancer chain smoking grandmother. They are both horrible choices to care for a child.Dad is an alcoholic that claims he has stopped drinking and that beer "doesn't count." He repea
—Lisa the Librarian
This is the craziest book I have ever read! It is insane! The things that he does and the things that he can do is just crazy! All in all. If you are looking for some laughs and adventure, choose this book!!
—Niceawsomederrick1
