Jack Gantos

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

From the Newbery Award-winning author of Dead End in Norvelt, this is a memoir about becoming a writer the hard way. A Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book.

In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.

In Hole in My Life, this prizewinning author of over thirty books for young people confronts the period of struggle and confinement that marked the end of his own youth. On the surface, the narrative tumbles from one crazed moment to the next as Gantos pieces together the story of his restless final year of high school, his short-lived career as a criminal, and his time in prison.

But running just beneath the action is the story of how Gantos--once he was locked up in a small, yellow-walled cell--moved from wanting to be a writer to writing, and how dedicating himself more fully to the thing he most wanted to do helped him endure and ultimately overcome the worst experience of his life.

This title has Common Core connections.

Jack Gantos is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of books for readers of all ages, including Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a National Book Award Finalist, and Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor book. His book The Trouble in Me is an autobiographical novel about a fourteen-year-old Jack Gantos, and his book Dead End in Novelt won the Newbery Medal, the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction.

Praise for Hole in My Life:

"A memoir, by turns harrowing and hilarious, about a huge mistake." --Miami Herald

"His account is remarkably free of both self-pity and self-censorship. . . . This is a tale of courage and redemption, proving that a bad start in life does not have to lead to a bad life story." --The New York Times Book Review

"Gantos really is Everyman, but an Everyman who has landed himself into a deeper pit than most. What separates Gantos is the determination that took him out of his dreams and into a successful life as a writer. Those writerly skills are in full evidence here, in this thoughtful and provocative memoir as valuable to those who have never heard of Gantos as to those who have read all of his books." --Hyde Park Review of Books

"The ultimate cautionary tale." --Smithsonian

"This true tale of the worst year in the author's life will be a big surprise for his many fans. . . .This is a story of mistakes, dues, redemption, and finally success at what he always wanted to do: write books." --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Awards for Hole in My Life:
School Library Best Books of the Year
Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library
Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
Michael L. Printz Award - Honor
ALA Best Books for Young Adults
NYPL Books for the Teen Age
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award
Massachusetts Children's Book Award
American Library Association Notable Children's Books
Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List
American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers
Parents' Choice Award Winner
Robert F. Sibert Award - Honor
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
ALA Notable Children's Books
Booklist Editors' Choice

Hole in My Life

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Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Utah

Sequel to Joey Pigza Loses Control, a Newbery Honor Book

Are they flirting or fighting? This is Joey Pigza's question when the fireworks suddenly start to explode between his long-separated mom and dad, whom he's never really had a chance to see together. The more out of control his parents get, the less in control Joey feels and the more he wants to help make things better. But Joey's ailing tell-it-like-it-is grandmother wants her grandson to see it like it is with his unpredictable parents. Knowing that she is fading fast, she needs Joey to hurry up and show that he can break the Pigza family mold by making a friend in the outside world. The only potential candidate, however, is Olivia Lapp -- Joey's blind homeschooling partner, who brags that she is "blind as a brat" and acts meaner to Joey the more desperate he gets for her friendship -- even if Joey senses there's more to her than meets the eye.

In this dazzling episode, Jack Gantos's acclaimed hyperactive hero discovers that settling down isn't good for anything if he can't find a way to stop the people he cares about from winding him up all over again.

What Would Joey Do? is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

What Would Joey Do?

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Joey's world is turned upside down when his deadbeat dad wins the lottery.

I Am Not Joey Pigza

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I bought this book at a GW since 2019 and forgot all about. I read it a couple of times, but ended up losing interest afterwards. Theres some tiny damages in the front and back cover along with small red paint splatter on the back.

Tennessee

Dead End in Norvelt

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"He was wired. No dought about it...Now I knowwhat Mom meant when she said he was like me, only bigger.""

Joey Pigza really wants his six-week visit with his dad to count, to show him he's not as wired as he used to be, to show his dad how much he loves him. But Carter Pigza's not an easy guy to love. He's eager to make it up to Joey for past wrongs and to show him how to be a winner, to take control of his life. With his coaching, Joey's even learned how to pitch a baseball, and he's good at it. The trouble is, Joey's dad thinks taking control means giving up the things that "keep Joey safe. And if he wants to please his dad, he's going to have to play by his rules, even when the rules don't make sense.

Joey Pigza Loses Control

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978-0312641573
6.7 ounces
224 pages
Ages 14+
5.5 x 0.53 x 8.25 inches
Square Fish (2012)

In the summer of 1971, Jack Gantos was an aspiring writer looking for adventure, cash for college tuition, and a way out of a dead-end job. For ten thousand dollars, he recklessly agreed to help sail a sixty-foot yacht loaded with a ton of hashish from the Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partners sold the drug until federal agents caught up with them. For his part in the conspiracy, Gantos was sentenced to serve up to six years in prison.


New Jersey

Louisiana

Santa Claus is coming to town and Rotten Ralph is determined to make a purr-fect impression.

The Christmas Spirit Strikes Rotten Ralph

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Book series for kids. I have other books by this author available on my shelf.

New York

Just when Joey Pigza's wired world finally seems to be under control, his good-for-nothing dad pops back into his life. This time, though, Carter Pigza is a new man - literally. After a lucky lotto win, Carter Pigza has a crazy new outlook on life, and he's even changed his name to Charles Heinz. He thinks Joey and his mom should become new people, too. Soon Joey finds himself bombarded with changes: a new name, a new home, and a new family business - running the beat-up Beehive Diner. He knows he should forgive his dad as his mom wants him to, and get with the new family program. But in I Am Not Joey Pigza, Joey is afraid that in changing names and going with the flow he will lose sight of who he really is.

In Jack Gantos' rocket-paced new chapter in Joey Pigza's life, a favorite hero discovers what identity and forgiveness really mean, and how to cook a delicious turkey burger. This title has Common Core connections.

Florida

Very good pre-owned condition, I would call this excellent but the inside cover has some damage from removal of a sticker (see photo)

BEING GROUNDED HAS NEVER BEEN SO DEADLY!

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt portrays an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents. But plenty of adventure is coming Jack's way once his mother loans him out to help a feisty old neighbor with an unusual activity involving the newly dead and the long departed... a motorcycle gang and a man on a trike... as well as twisted promises and possibly murder.

Endlessly surprising, this achingly funny New York Times bestseller depicts growing up in an off-kilter place haunted by its amazing past.

Winner of the John Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Jack Gantos

FROM NORVELT TO NOWHERE

"This is a story like no other."

-Jon Scieszka, founder of guysread.com

★ "Laugh-out-loud gothic comedy."

-The Horn Book, starred review

★ "Wildly entertaining."

-Publishers Weekly, starred review

And don't miss Jack's further exploits in From Norvelt to Nowhere!

"Brilliant... Full of history, mystery, and laughs."

-Dave Barry, coauthor of the Peter and the Starcatchers series

Bonus materials inside: Excerpt from the author's Newbery-Acceptance Speech Dead End in Norvelt Scrapbook.

Sneak peek of From Norvelt to Nowhere

Michigan

The author of the book has wrote a small message for the owner of the book on the title page. (Please see it photo #5.)  There are a couple small visible creases on the back cover, but they don’t get in the way of reading the book. 

Illinois

Four Seasons of Fifth Grade

From the Newbery Medal-winning author ofDead End in Norvelt, nine semi-autobiographical stories that will make you laugh so hard it hurts

InJack on the Tracks, fifth-grader Jack Henry is hoping for fresh adventure when he moves to a new home in Miami with his family, but he can't escape his old worrying ways. He worries about being fascinated with all things gross and disgusting. He worries about his crazy French-obsessed schoolteacher. And most of all he worries about worrying so much.

In this cycle of interrelated stories, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, if only Jack can get on the right track to survive his outrageous year.

This title has Common Core connections.

Jack on the Tracks

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Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Virginia

Maryland

"They say I'm wired bad, or wired sad, but there's no doubt about it—I'm wired." Joey Pigza's got heart, he's got a mom who loves him, and he's got "dud meds," which is what he calls the Ritalin pills that are supposed to even out his wild mood swings. Sometimes Joey makes bad choices. He learns the hard way that he shouldn't stick his finger in the pencil sharpener, or swallow his house key, or run with scissors. Joey ends up bouncing around a lot - and eventually he bounces himself all the way downtown, into the district special-ed program, which could be the end of the line. As Joey knows, if he keeps making bad choices, he could just fall between the cracks for good. But he is determined not to let that happen. In this antic yet poignant new novel, Jack Gantos has perfect pitch in capturing the humor, the off-the-wall intensity, and the serious challenges that life presents to a kid dealing with hyper-activity and related disorders. This title has Common Core connections. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is a 1998 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

7529fa0d-6078-4d83-96e5-ed3c52350c83-1

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Pennsylvania

Both are in fair condition. See photos. 2nd book had something spilt on it but pages are still readable 

‼️Bundle of Dead End in Norvelt & From Norvelt To Nowhere 

Jon Scieszka

Eugene Yelchin

Lemony Snicket

Christopher Healy

Sharon Creech

Cathy Camper

Laurie Halse Anderson

Ingrid Law

Deborah Hopkinson

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Excellent condition lightly used Ex-Library book, NO MAJOR DAMAGES may contain library stickers. 

Kentucky

Heroes and Villains, the seventh volume in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read Library of Great Reading, is chock-full of adventure featuring an array of characters—with and without capes. Featuring ten all-new, original stories that run the gamut from fantasy to comics to contemporary adventure to nonfiction, and featuring eleven of the most acclaimed, exciting writers for kids working today, this collection is the perfect book for you, whether you use your powers for good—or evil. Authors include Laurie Halse Anderson, Cathy Camper and Raúl Gonzalez, Sharon Creech, Jack Gantos, Christopher Healy, Deborah Hopkinson, Ingrid Law, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Lemony Snicket, and Eugene Yelchin, with illustrations by Jeff Stokely.

Guys Read: Heroes and Villains

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California

Joey Pigza can't sit still. He can't pay attention, he can't follow the rules, and he can't help it -- especially when his meds aren't working. Joey's had problems ever since he was born, problems just like his dad and grandma have. And whether he's wreaking havoc on a class trip or swallowing his house key, Joey's problems are getting worse. In fact, his behavior is so off the wall that his teachers are threatening to send him to the special-ed center downtown.

Joey knows he's really a good kid, but no matter how hard he tries to do the right thing, something always seems to go wrong. Will he ever get anything right?

There are minimal signs of wear along the cover and sleeve edges, and the Newberry Medal sticker is scuffed/peeling. But the book overall is still solid and sturdy and in excellent condition.

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Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life

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Dead End in Norvelt

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Joey Pigza Loses Control

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The Christmas Spirit Strikes Rotten Ralph

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I Am Not Joey Pigza

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Dead End in Norvelt

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Jack on the Tracks

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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Loses Control

Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life

Jack Gantos

‼️Bundle of Dead End in Norvelt & From Norvelt To Nowhere

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt

Jon Scieszka; Eugene Yelchin; Jack Gantos; Lemony Snicket; Christopher Healy; Sharon Creech; Cathy Camper; Laurie Halse Anderson; Ingrid Law; Deborah Hopkinson; Pam Muñoz Ryan

Guys Read: Heroes and Villains

Jack Gantos

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key

Jack Gantos

Dead End in Norvelt